Atlantica - 01.09.2007, Side 89

ICELANDAIR AT WORK
Icelandair is the founder and a key sponsor of the annual Iceland Airwaves
music festival, held in Reykjavík each fall. The city’s proximity to a plethora of
geysers, waterfalls and other natural phenomena helps earn the festival some
of its merit, although its main attraction has always been the music. Making a
point of always showcasing a healthy mixture of local and international talent,
the festival often features bands on the brink of stardom well before they
gain international acclaim (cases in point: The Rapture, TV on the Radio, Clap
Your Hands Say Yeah). Iceland Airwaves’ venues—the numerous and notori-
ous bars and clubs of the downtown 101 postal code—add a final touch of
charm to the world’s northernmost music festival.
The Iceland Airwaves website site contains all the latest news, additions to
the lineup and, best of all, a bird's eye view into the downtown area, including
all venues, contact info and even a little history for each venue.
icelandair.is/airwaves
The Iceland
Airwaves
Guide
Icelandair Commences Toronto Flights Next Spring
Icelandair will begin offering direct flights to Toronto
next spring. This service will be in addition to the
flights Icelandair already offers to Halifax. Icelandair
is also considering services to four other Canadian
cities: Montreal, Winnipeg, Ottawa and St. John’s. This
decision was taken following the signing of an open
skies agreement between the governments of Iceland
and Canada in July.
"Icelandair has worked ceaselessly over the years
to establish an open skies agreement between Iceland
and Canada and we are extremely pleased to see
that such an agreement has now been reached,” says
Jón Karl Ólafsson, CEO of Icelandair and Icelandair
Group. “We are ready to enter the Canadian market
with our passenger and cargo services. Our flights to
Canada, despite the very strict regulations enforced
by the Canadian authorities, have been a clear reflec-
tion of our interest in the Canadian market. We
believe that this has proven to Canadian authorities
how serious we are. Now that this agreement has
been finalized, we see a tremendous opportunity to
further develop our route network to serve new and
exciting destinations.”
Toronto is the largest city in Canada as well as
its main transportation hub. “We are keen to enter
this new market, which we believe will become a key
gateway for us, similar to Boston or New York”, says
Gunnar Már Sigurfinnsson, Icelandair SVP of Sales
and Marketing. “We are confident that Toronto will
become a popular destination for Icelanders since
it is a lively multicultural city with a wide variety of
attractions. It also offers great connections for flights
in Canada and the U.S. We believe that this gives us a
great opportunity to market Iceland as a destination,
as Toronto is a transportation hub that serves a large,
densely populated area. The open skies agreement
also opens up a wealth of opportunities in serving cus-
tomers traveling between Scandinavia and Canada,”
said Sigurfinnsson.
Icelandair will offer five to seven flights weekly to
Toronto, year-round.

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