Atlantica - 01.01.2004, Side 7

I am often asked how a small and isolated nation such as Iceland can support an
airline the size of Icelandair. How can a domestic market of 280,000 people sup-
port a route system transporting on average over 100,000 passengers between
Iceland and 15 to 20 large cities every month? The answer lies in both the history
and the marketing vision of Icelandair.
Icelandair differs from most national airlines in that it was started by pioneers and
adventurers in the mid-twentieth century. It's this adventuring spirit that has
always been a part of the company culture. Icelandair has never been state owned
and has always had to fight hard to remain competitive amongst the internation-
al airline giants on both sides of the Atlantic. The fact that Iceland is a sparsely
populated island that relies heavily on air transport, both domestically and inter-
nationally, has given us a very strong aviation tradition.
Around 50 years ago Icelandair started branching out with international flights.
This development continued, blossoming in the sixties with flights between New
York and Luxemburg. However, the most extensive development of the company
and its network took place over the past two decades when the scheduled route
system was developed with three markets in mind. In the current network,
Icelandair has incorporated all of the following: the travel needs of Icelanders, the
tourist flow to Iceland and general international flights between Europe and the
USA.
By doing this, Icelandair has increased its passenger capacity and streamlined its
marketing and sales system. This has enabled the Icelandic tourism industry to
grow well beyond international averages, establishing strong communication
between Iceland and the rest of the world.
Next summer Icelandair will be enlarging its schedule by twenty percent, adding
new destinations such as Helsinki, Madrid, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and Zurich.
As always, we base our services on offering our customers what they ask for. I
hope that your trip will be enjoyable.
A T L A N T I C A 5
Sigurdur Helgason, President and CEO, Icelandair
ICELANDAIR IN-FLIGHT MAGAZINE
Head Office, Advertising:
Heimur Ltd.
Borgartún 23
IS-105 Reykjavík
Iceland
Tel: (354) 512 7575
Fax: (354) 561 8646
Iceland@icenews.is
www.icelandreview.com
Overseas Advertising
Representatives:
DENMARK:
JB Media International
Allégade 8H
DK-2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark
Phone: (45) 33 85 30 00
Fax: (45) 33 24 28 23
SWEDEN:
SAS Media AB
Gävlegatan 18 B
S-113 30 Stockholm
Sweden
Tel. (46) 8 797 03 00
Fax (46) 8 728 85 38
UK:
JB Nordic Media Ltd.
20-28 Dalling Road
Hammersmith
London W6 0JB
England
Tel. (44) 181 742 6644
Fax (44) 181 563 7026
BENELUX:
Media Partners
Stroombaan 4
NL-1181 VX Amstelveen
The Netherlands
Tel. (31) 20 547 3600
Fax (31) 20 647 5121
FRANCE:
Inflight Media Marketing (IMM)
80 Rue Montmartre
F-75002 Paris - France
Tel: (33) 1 40 13 00 30
Fax: (33) 1 40 13 00 33
GERMANY:
MP International Media Service GmbH
Buchardst. 17
D-20095 Hamburg
Germany
Tel. (49) 4 3252 6648
Fax (49) 4 3252 6640
USA:
Airgroup One
19 West 36th Street
Suite 7
New York, NY 10018
USA
Tel. (1) 212 244 5610
Fax (1) 212 244 5321
Spirit of Pioneers
Sigurdur Helgason, President and CEO, Icelandair
005 ATL 104 Sig.Helga 17.12.2003 14:01 Page 5