BC Business
transportation | BCBusiness
Just in case you can’t get your fill of Bjork, Volcanoes and mud baths, Icelandair has announced the first-ever direct commercial flights linking Vancouver and Reykjavik.
The twice-weekly, approximately seven-hour flights will start in May 2014 and can currently be booked at icelandair.ca for as little as $683 round trip, taxes included. That compares to the current economy rate of approximately $1,300 for an 11-hour trip via a connecting flight in Seattle.
The agreement with Icelandair has been two years in the making, according to John Korenic, director of aviation marketing, Vancouver Airport Authority. What made it possible is a free trade agreement with Iceland that was negotiated two years ago, the open skies portion of which takes effect in October this year.
The direct service to Reykjavik will be available from May through October, with the possibility of extending year-round depending on consumer uptake. Korenic estimates arrivals and departures on the service will total approximately 14,000 passengers in 2014.
The airport authority estimates the economic impact to B.C. of the direct air service to Iceland to be $3.1 million a year in direct and indirect jobs.
Another direct European flight began earlier this year, with Lufthansa initiating direct service between Vancouver and Munich. While the airline does not release passenger numbers publicly, YVR’s Korenic reports that both the airport authority and Lufthansa are “very pleased” with the response.