Across The Ocean In A Dash 8: Icelandair To Resume A Greenland Route

Simple Flying

By Pranjal Pande

Published Dec 30, 2021

Icelandair is resuming flights between its home country and South Greenland. The carrier will fly over the Atlantic using one of its DHC Dash 8-400s, which can seat 76 passengers. Flights to Narsarsuaq will start on April 1st, 2022.

Connecting

According to Aviation24.be, Icelandair is bringing back its route to South Greenland after a pause due to the pandemic. Starting April 1st, the flag carrier will resume flights to Narsarsuaq from either Reykjavik or Keflavik. A final decision on the route and timings will be made in the coming weeks.

While the Iceland-Narsarsuaq route was set to resume in June, the airline has decided to bring it forward by a full two months. In a statement, the Chairman of Innovation South Greenland, Hans Peter Hansen, said,

"It is not an April Fool’s joke, but really good news for South Greenland when Icelandair resumes flights to Narsarsuaq on 1 April. So far, Icelandair has indicated that it is willing to start on 1 April instead of in June, as first planned. But we need a route all year round, so we are continuing to work on getting it started even earlier."

Up to the job

Icelandair is planning to use one of its two de Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s on flights to southern Greenland. With a range of nearly 1,500 miles, the turboprop is more than capable of flying the 750-mile journey across the Atlantic. Moreover, the Dash 8 has an optimal capacity of 78 seats for the journey, laid out in a 2-2 configuration across 20 rows.

The aircraft was operated by subsidiary Air Iceland Connect, the flag carrier's regional arm. However, with the two arms merged earlier this year, the planes will fly under Icelandair's branding and livery in the coming months.

The Dash 8 fleet will soon carry the Icelandair livery, ending the Air Iceland Connect subsidiary. Photo: Matasjauu via Wikimedia Commons

In recent months, Icelandair has been deploying its Dash 8s further from their home base. The aircraft has been deployed routes to the UK, including a three-hour hop to Manchester that's over a thousand miles. As global demand recovers, expect to see the Dash 8 fly some more important routes in addition to its usual services.

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Iceland's big year

2021 has been a strong year for aviation in Iceland. The island nation in the Atlantic is home to a new low-cost carrier, PLAY, and has seen a flurry of flights from the US due to its early reopening to vaccinated travelers in May. This pace is set to continue into 2022, as PLAY expands into the North American market and airlines see strong demand for leisure travel next year.