Atlantica - 01.04.2006, Page 104

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Icelandair added a new route to its network in April when the airline added Manchester to its
destinations. Flights will be twice a week, operated on Boeing 757 jets with a 189-passenger
capacity. The first flight sold out, and bookings for the summer look good.
“With this new destination we are expanding our services in the UK. We are looking to
expand market share in the UK and at the same time open a new and very exciting destina-
tion for Icelandair,” says Jón Karl Ólafsson, CEO of Icelandair. “Our strong marketing efforts in
the UK have resulted in expanding the number of our customers by 300 percent since 1995
– in just a decade. We have flown to London and Glasgow for a long time and we believe this
is the right time to add the third destination in the UK. Manchester is the center of an area
with the same population as Denmark, Norway and Sweden combined. It’s only 2.5 hours
away from Iceland and we have every reason to believe that this will be an excellent addition
to London and Glasgow,” adds Jón Karl.
Like other spots in the UK, Icelandair believes Manchester will become a popular destina-
tion for Icelanders, offering excellent shopping and entertainment.
“The nightlife is world-renowned and we hardly need to mention the fact that Manchester
offers some of the best football (soccer to some readers) in the world,” says Jón Karl. “It’s
close to Liverpool which is the 2008 European City of Culture, and lest we forget, the birth-
place of the Beatles.”
For the first time, Icelandair announced the winner of the
Icelandair Pioneer Awards. The prize, ISK 500,000 and ten flight
tickets, was awarded to Icelandic Mountain Guides for their
concept,“Walking on Ice.” A special motivational award was
given to Björg Juto and Ólöf María Ólafsdóttir for their idea,
“Shadows.”
The prize-winning idea is to give travelers the opportunity
of direct contact with ice, so that he or she is able to walk on,
touch and look at ice. The panel of judges agreed that without
equipment, the average traveler in Iceland lacks opportunity to
come into contact with this major element of Icelandic nature.
The winning idea would be a great innovation for the day tours
that are available to travelers.
The panel of judges also handed out a special motivational
award for an original and lively idea which they would like to see
become a reality. The idea behind “Shadows” is that in a dedicated
area, travelers will be invited to have a life-size statue of them-
selves made. With new technology, the person will be scanned in
3D into a special application which controls a mechanic device.
That mechanical device will then in a couple of hours shape a
perfect statue.
The panel of judges consisted of Jón Karl Ólafsson, President
of Icelandair, Gunnar Már Sigurfinnsson, SVP Sales & Marketing
Icelandair and Thorsteinn Pálsson, editor of the Icelandic news-
paper Fréttabladid.
“Walking On Ice” Receives First Icelandair Pioneer Award
“Rite of Spring is a new concept which we are developing
for the first time in Iceland, focusing on cutting edge Folk,
Jazz and World Music,” says Thorsteinn Stephensen, owner of
Mr. Destiny. “We will build it slowly over the next few years
in a similar way to Airwaves, but with a completely different
musical vision.”
The acts that performed in this first Rite of Spring festival
included Icelandic pioneers and jazz–funksters Mezzoforte,
Scottish/Latin American folk fusion Salsa Celtica, Serbian
Gypsy band Kal, Brazilian bossanova gutarist Ife Tolentino and
Nix Noltes Big Band, formed by Reykjavík musicians includ-
ing Múm members, based on their passion for Bulgarian and
Balkan folk music.
For further info, visit www.riteofspring.is
Rites of Spring
The Serbian Gypsy band Kal
Icelandair Starts Manchester
Operations
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