Atlantica - 01.01.2006, Qupperneq 9

AT L A N T I CA 7
In the mid 1980s, a traveler arrived in Iceland on a so-called “smokeless” day – a typical Tuesday designated by health
authorities every now and then to promote awareness of the dangers of smoking. The traveler, a heavy smoker
himself, found that wherever he went for the remainder of the day, he could not have a single cigarette. It was strictly
forbidden.
The next day he smoked as he liked, but discovered in the evening when he went out for dinner and a night on the
town that Wednesdays were no-alcohol days. By Icelandic law, bars were closed and no restaurants were allowed to
serve liquor on a Wednesday. His third evening in Iceland he took no chances, and decided to stay in his hotel room,
relax and watch TV. Unfortunately, Thursday, he found out, was the day off for the staff of the Icelandic National
Broadcasting Service, the only channel available back then. There was no television.
On Friday, the poor guy left the country.
Icelanders tell this story to each other to remember in nostalgic terms the simpler times of the past, and the
dramatic changes Icelandic society has undergone in just two decades. Now television, with its infinite number of
channels, is available around the clock every day of the year, and there are seemingly endless bars and restaurants to
choose from that are always open. For the most part, the eccentricities and unique laws and regulations of an isolated
country have disappeared, as Iceland has joined various European unions and merged with the rest of world. With
them went some of the things that made Iceland different.
Yet Iceland will always be different. A mid-Atlantic volcanic island with just 300,000 inhabitants will never be your
average place. And similarly, Icelandair is not your average airline. Our home country is the base for our network and
for our marketing efforts. We are what is known as a “niche” carrier in airline industry jargon. It means we have built
our strength on specialized market and operations knowledge, and we use that knowledge to offer value for money
and to be competitive in our part of the universe. We have also used our strength to expand into new ventures, result-
ing in a dramatic increase in the number of travelers coming to Iceland.
So even though we are a modern international airline, we deliberately hold on to some Icelandic “specialties.” If
you are on a flight to Iceland you might, for instance, notice the first thing the cabin crew says over the PA system
after landing is “Velkomin heim,” or “Welcome home” in Icelandic. The greeting has been used by Icelandair for
decades, and brings with it an unrivalled feeling of warmth for Icelanders returning to their home country.
Have a great trip.
Jón Karl Ólafsson
CEO, Icelandair
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
Kongevejen 84,
DK-2840 Holte
Denmark
Phone: (45) 33 85 30 00
Fax: (45) 33 24 28 23
SWEDEN:
SAS Media AB
SE-195 87 Stockholm
Sweden
Tel. (46) 8 797 03 00
Fax (46) 8 728 85 38
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
Icelandair CEO Jón Karl Ólafsson
Welcome Home
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ICELANDAIR IN-FLIGHT MAGAZINE
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