Atlantica - 01.04.2006, Side 105

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Twenty-five children and their families have received an allocation
from Vildarbörn, the Icelandair Travel Fund for Special Children.
Since the Fund was founded three years ago, eighty families of chil-
dren with long-term illnesses or living with special circumstances
have been invited on a constructive, family-oriented dream journey
with Icelandair.
“It is the unselfish contribution of our passengers that makes this
unique fund possible. With their contribution of coins, the founda-
tion of the Fund is laid,” says Áslaug Thelma Einarsdóttir, director
of the Icelandair Travel Fund for Special Children. “Many passengers
have not stopped there, but have also contributed a part of their
frequent flyer points to the program. Icelandair also donates gener-
ously to the Fund every year, and this combined effort of the airline
and its passengers has been successful in making it possible to send
these families on their dream journey,” says Áslaug Thelma.
Children and families who receive contributions from the fund get
to choose their destination. Most have chosen to take a trip to
Disney World in Orlando, to see soccer matches in the UK, or visit
Tivoli in Copenhagen. “We believe these journeys strengthen family
bonds and give family members some time off from the difficulties
of living with the illness or under difficult life circumstances,” says
Áslaug Thelma. “We make sure that all travel expenses and accom-
modation are paid for so that it can be a worry-free time.”
Vildarbörn bases its commitment on the work of Ms. Peggy
Helgason, occupational therapist and wife of Mr. Sigurdur Helgason,
former President and CEO of Icelandair. Ms. Helgason has worked
with ill children in Iceland for many years. The guardian of the fund
is Ms. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, former President of Iceland.
103
Icelandair at w o r k
Twenty Five Families Receive a Dream Journey with Icelandair
Manchester to
‘Madchester’
Where can you see Badly Drawn Boy, Elbow and
Echo And The Bunnymen on the same night? A gig
in downtown Manchester? A club in Liverpool? Not
quite. ‘Madchester’ is a unique night in Reykjavík being
held on Saturday, May 6, 2006, to showcase the best
progressive musical talent from the northwest of
England. The event aims to forge closer cultural links
between the Manchester area and Iceland, now linked
by twice-weekly direct Icelandair flights.
The three acts take center stage at one of Iceland’s
biggest music venues, Laugardalshöllin, at 5.30pm, and
play well into the night.
Before the concert, discover the vibrant bars of
Reykjavík. On Sunday, recover in the rejuvenating min-
eral-rich waters of the iconic Blue Lagoon geothermal
spa, try a spot of horse riding or head out to spot
whales off the Icelandic coast.
Iceland is renowned for hosting the annual Iceland
Airwaves festival in October, which draws talent
as varied as Björk, The Zutons and Juliette and
The Licks. ‘Madchester,’ however, is a one-off music
event held by Icelandair to celebrate the new twice-
weekly Icelandair service from Manchester to Iceland,
launched on April 7.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of
Frankfurt as an Icelandair destination. The first
flight was during the summer of 1966, though the
Icelandair office opened in Frankfurt in 1957. In
1966, our main emphasis was on Luxembourg
flights. We stopped flying to Luxembourg in
January 1999, and today Frankfurt has replaced
Luxembourg.
Now Frankfurt is our central Europe hub
as it serves our sales offices and partners in
Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria,
Luxembourg, Poland and others in central
Europe. Today we fly nine times per week to
Frankfurt during the summer and four times
per week during the winter. Frankfurt has been
a great destination for us and we estimate that
we serve 75 perccent of all German travelers to
Iceland, a great result in view of the fierce com-
petition we’ve faced in the German market.
We celebrated the 40th anniversary of our
first flight to Frankfurt in style. The celebra-
tion was held in the Frankfurt Business School
and attracted well over 100 guests. The guest
of honor was Árni Mathiesen, the Icelandic
Minister of Finance. Arni set the tone for the
evening with a grand speech. Master chefs from
Iceland cooked up a great meal for us, and
Mezzoforte rocked the crowd in the school’s
backyard where we’d set up big screens show-
ing the northern lights and a documentary pro-
duced by the German TV station N 24, which
premiered last year. With well over a hundred
guests from the travel industry, news media and
other partners, the celebration was considered
a great success.
There are currently 17 persons working in
our offices in Frankfurt and five in Amsterdam.
This number has been reduced from 30 in the
Frankfurt office a few years back. These 17
have plenty to do, as we have 14 direct flights
per week to Germany during the summer. We
fly three times per week to Berlin and twice
weekly to Munich.
Frankfurt
Celebrations
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