End of an era: PLAYtime is over in the US for Icelandic carrier
June 11, 2025
Iceland’s PLAY Airlines is giving up on the USA. It has revealed that it will halt all flights to and from North America this October.
The ultra-low-cost-carrier, which had already ceased operations between Keflavik and Washington Dulles in December 2024, has now confirmed it is pulling out of the US altogether.
PLAY currently still serves New York Stewart (SWF), Boston (BOS) and Baltimore/ Washington (BWI), with the last flights to these three hubs scheduled for 1 September, 15 September and 24 October, respectively.
The airline had already stopped flying to Canada in April, having only launched services to Hamilton from Reykjavik less than two years ago.
PLAY is focussed on European resilience
The focus for PLAY now is on point-to-point connections from Iceland to leisure destinations, mostly in southern Europe. The airline also plans to scale back services to destinations in northern Europe.
“We’re focusing on the profitable aspects of the business – sun destination flights – and discontinuing those that have not yet yielded results,” said Einar Orn Olafsson, PLAY’s CEO.
A key component of this transformation is the transition, confirmed in March, of PLAY’s Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) from Iceland to Malta.
With the carrier looking to expand its ACMI and charter operations for other airlines, the opportunity to operate under a Maltese ACO provides regulatory and financial advantages, particularly in aircraft leasing.
With PLAY also delisting from the stock market, the decision to exit North America comes as PLAY readies for a planned shareholder-led takeover.
PLAY currently operates a fleet of 10 aircraft, including six A320neos and four A321neos. The four A321neos will be retained by the ULCC for scheduled operations out of Keflavik, while the remaining six aircraft will be leased to other airlines.
In 2023 the ULCC carried more than 1.5 million passengers – double the number it carried in 2022.
A familiar story: low-cost, long-haul is hard
PLAY’s departure from North America is a reminder of the struggles faced by many low-cost carriers on long-haul routes. The Icelandic ULCC is certainly not the first airline operating a hub-and-spoke model based on budget fares to struggle with the high operational costs and intense competition on long-haul routes.
WOW Air, another Icelandic carrier, ceased operations in 2019 after rapid expansion into North America and Europe proved unsustainable. Norwegian also faced significant financial difficulties, abandoning its long-haul network in 2021.
While low cost, short-haul models often prove fruitful, replicating this approach on transatlantic routes presents multiple challenges. High fuel prices, combined with expensive aircraft maintenance costs, limited passenger volumes and budget fares strain profit margins, making long-haul operations far less sustainable.
