Icelandair Announces Chicago

ANA787 · Tue May 12, 2015 3:31 pm

Just saw on Twitter. About time!
http://www.icelandair.us/information...l&utm_campaign=ChicagoAnnouncement

[Edited 2015-05-12 08:32:30]

gkirk · Tue May 12, 2015 3:36 pm

Is there a large number of fish restaurants in Chicago?

B747forever · Tue May 12, 2015 3:48 pm

Iceland and FI is the Dubai/EK of the north atlantic. With them getting 767s we might even see LAX/SFO.

jetskipper · Tue May 12, 2015 3:53 pm

I wonder if the new flight to ORD will adversely affect the MSP FI route.

AWACSooner · Tue May 12, 2015 4:05 pm

Where are these extra 75's coming from? Getting a bit more difficult to find the RR powered ones now, eh?

crazytoaster · Tue May 12, 2015 4:21 pm

Great to hear as I am in the Midwest but dam flights do not start until March 16 2016. Decent frequency at 4x weekly on M,W,F,Sun

ORDTLV2414 · Tue May 12, 2015 4:25 pm

Welcome news indeed! where they will park? I couldn't tell you.

jpdx024 · Tue May 12, 2015 4:35 pm

Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 4):

I believe FI just purchased one of AA'S 752.

flyingclrs727 · Tue May 12, 2015 4:41 pm

I wish they had flights from IAH or DFW.

Mikey711MN · Tue May 12, 2015 5:00 pm

Quoting jetskipper (Reply 3):
I wonder if the new flight to ORD will adversely affect the MSP FI route.

Probably none at all. At least no more than Condor's MSP-FRA service has impacts to LH/UA ORD-FRA service.

That said, this certainly kills any remote chance of MKE securing any TATL service in the foreseeable future.

Good to see more variety at ORD!

-Mike

CHI787ORD · Tue May 12, 2015 5:06 pm

Very exciting. Any idea on departure time? Its a shorter flight than the ORD TATLs so maybe a later evening departure is possible outside of the ORD T5 peak hours.

Is there a bank of European departures they are aligning N America flights to?

thomasphoto60 · Tue May 12, 2015 5:07 pm

Quoting flyingclrs727 (Reply 8):
I wish they had flights from IAH or DFW.

We can't get every carrier, besides, what market would they target?

GCT64 · Tue May 12, 2015 5:14 pm

Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 4):
Where are these extra 75's coming from?

They recently added a late model that had previously been on lease to I-Fly (H5) in Russia and another older one which was ex-AA with another ex-AA due. I think that will take them to 26 examples (1 x 753, 25 x 752).

I think we can all be excused for not realising TF-FIK is a new addition as it is the 4th 752 to carry the same registration!

TWA772LR · Tue May 12, 2015 5:14 pm

Quoting thomasphoto60 (Reply 11):
Quoting flyingclrs727 (Reply 8):
I wish they had flights from IAH or DFW.

We can't get every carrier, besides, what market would they target?

Lot's of fish species in Galveston Bay.

What kind of demographic does FI go after? DO they go after the young, backpacker kind, newly weds on a honeymoon, high-end businessman connecting across the Atlantic?

thomasphoto60 · Tue May 12, 2015 5:18 pm

Quoting TWA772LR (Reply 13):
Lot's of fish species in Galveston Bay.

Would you knowingly consume anything out of Galveston Bay ?

GCT64 · Tue May 12, 2015 5:20 pm

Quoting CHI787ORD (Reply 10):
Is there a bank of European departures they are aligning N America flights to?

Yes - there is a westbound bank through KEF in the afternoon (arr KEF 3-4pm GMT, dep KEF ~5pm GMT) and an eastbound bank in the morning (arr KEF ~6am GMT, dep KEF 7-8am GMT)

Quite an impressive operation through there now, departures to US/Can this afternoon to:
SEA
MSP
DEN
JFK
EWR
IAD
BOS
SFB
YVR
YYZ
all departing within 30 minutes

flybynight · Tue May 12, 2015 5:23 pm

Is it me, or does DEN seem an odd choice for IF?

TWA772LR · Tue May 12, 2015 5:25 pm

Quoting thomasphoto60 (Reply 14):
Would you knowingly consume anything out of Galveston Bay ?

Shhhhhhhh! We're trying to make it look good so they can fly here!

Quoting flybynight (Reply 16):
Is it me, or does DEN seem an odd choice for IF?

That's why I asked what their demographic was.

GCT64 · Tue May 12, 2015 5:27 pm

Here's an FR24 screen shot showing this afternoon's mass departure from KEF

Icelandair departures Westbound from KEF

LFutia · Tue May 12, 2015 5:36 pm

I'm so excited to finally see FI at ORD. Super super excited. I'll have to go visit Iceland on my way to Amsterdam

Leo/ORD

thomasphoto60 · Tue May 12, 2015 5:38 pm

Quoting GCT64 (Reply 18):
Here's an FR24 screen shot showing this afternoon's mass departure from KEF

Looks like a Viking invasion has been launched

CHI787ORD · Tue May 12, 2015 5:38 pm

Quoting TWA772LR (Reply 17):
Quoting flybynight (Reply 16):Is it me, or does DEN seem an odd choice for IF?
That's why I asked what their demographic was.

I think Denver and the whole mountain west region is still relatively underserved to Europe. And Denver/Colorado is faster growing than many of their existing markets. I can see how they can easily fill a 757.

readytotaxi · Tue May 12, 2015 5:47 pm

They market themselves quite well in the UK however, for me, the Business Class cabin is too small in terms of personal space

dfwjim1 · Tue May 12, 2015 5:53 pm

I wonder if MIA/FLL/PBI will ever be serviced by Icelandair?

steex · Tue May 12, 2015 5:57 pm

The flights are bookable on FI's website already. Schedule appears as follows:

FI853 KEF 16:45 ORD 18:15 Sun/Mon/Wed/Fri
FI852 ORD 19:30 KEF 06:35+1 Sun/Mon/Wed/Fri

Looks they're operating a pretty quick turn in the early evening, only at the gate in ORD for 1h15m. I would imagine it's relatively easier to find gate space at T5 operating a fairly quick turn with a narrowbody aircraft.

Looks like introductory fares are just under $700 round-trip ORD-KEF-ORD.

B727skyguy · Tue May 12, 2015 5:57 pm

Actually this is not new service, per se. FI served ORD 25 years ago with a DC-8. I took it on my first trip to Iceland. The flight operated ORD-BOS-KEF.

mjoelnir · Tue May 12, 2015 6:16 pm

Icelandair has bought 3 additional 757-200 this spring. Two from AA, former N636AM and N642AA and now TF-ISY and TF-ISZ. One from I-fly former EI-ERF and now TF-FIK.
That brings FI to 23 pax 757-200 and one pax 757-300.

Chisky16 · Tue May 12, 2015 6:21 pm

Booked a ticket for next April!

YULWinterSkies · Tue May 12, 2015 6:30 pm

Quoting jetskipper (Reply 3):
I wonder if the new flight to ORD will adversely affect the MSP FI route.

Rather the flights from the competition to the main European markets that FI targets.

Quoting thomasphoto60 (Reply 11):
We can't get every carrier, besides, what market would they target?

Europe, much like ORD, they would compete against the giants UA and AA on their own turf.
With 2 free checked bags, one way tickets at realistic fares, free stopovers in Iceland, FI has a bunch of good selling points. The limited network size and independence from alliances of course balances this out, but so far FI has been successful at their US expansion.

jetblastdubai · Tue May 12, 2015 6:30 pm

How tough would it be for KEF to get US Preclearance?

kelvin933 · Tue May 12, 2015 6:41 pm

Quoting jetblastdubai (Reply 29):
How tough would it be for KEF to get US Preclearance?

Totally impossible, the transfer time for European destinations to US destinations would have to
be increased by at least 60min. That would put the KEF-US part of the network out of balance,
increasing costs and make more destinations subject to the DEN effect (the 752 stays in DEN for 23h)

bigfoot0503 · Tue May 12, 2015 8:20 pm

Quoting GCT64 (Reply 15):
Quite an impressive operation through there now, departures to US/Can this afternoon to:

Indeed impressive...add to that PDX which comes on-line May 20th.

yv773p · Tue May 12, 2015 8:44 pm

Quoting dfwjim1 (Reply 23):
I wonder if MIA/FLL/PBI will ever be serviced by Icelandair?

I really hope so. How is Norwegian doing out of FLL?

B747forever · Tue May 12, 2015 8:51 pm

Knowing that FI mostly carry PAX connecting through KEF, do they hold flights for connecting PAX in case a flight comes in say an hour or two late to a departure wave? If not, one might get stuck for a day/days during high season with not many options out of Iceland.

by738 · Tue May 12, 2015 9:18 pm

Quoting Kelvin933 (Reply 30):

Perhaps currently impractical but not 'totally impossible' by any means. The 60 mins saved versus 2hrs+ at some U.S. Immigration

kelvin933 · Tue May 12, 2015 9:20 pm

Quoting by738 (Reply 34):
Perhaps currently impractical but not 'totally impossible' by any means. The 60 mins saved versus 2hrs+ at some U.S. Immigration

Well FI executives are on the record here in Iceland that they are "not interested"

steex · Tue May 12, 2015 10:04 pm

Quoting by738 (Reply 34):
Perhaps currently impractical but not 'totally impossible' by any means. The 60 mins saved versus 2hrs+ at some U.S. Immigration

The difference is that two hours you wait for U.S. immigration at a U.S. airport doesn't really impact FI's operation. In a case where it takes that long to get through immigration, FI may well have turned their plane and departed for KEF again. That goes away if FI needs to have their westbound planes arriving from Europe on the ground waiting for pax to go through U.S. preclearance before they can depart again.

CIDFlyer · Tue May 12, 2015 10:16 pm

Quoting B727skyguy (Reply 25):
Actually this is not new service, per se. FI served ORD 25 years ago with a DC-8. I took it on my first trip to Iceland. The flight operated ORD-BOS-KEF.

I remember FI used to serve ORD as well. My parents took that flight in 87. I dont remember them going through BOS though I thought they went non stop ORD-KEF. Good to see them back at ORD!

centrex · Tue May 12, 2015 10:47 pm

Interesting to see this announcement so soon. Still 10 months to go until first flight. Might be a pre-empt vs some other carrier on ORD-KEF. UA most likely

gkirk · Tue May 12, 2015 10:51 pm

Will UA/US/DL be protesting against FI?

Miami · Tue May 12, 2015 11:08 pm

Schedule:

FI853 KEF1645 – 1815ORD 75W x246
FI852 ORD1930 – 0635+1KEF 75W x246

http://airlineroute.net/2015/05/12/fi-ord-s16/

centrex · Tue May 12, 2015 11:12 pm

No protest from UA/AA. JUst a matter of somebody starting the flights. This is probably close to 50% point to point market so just a wonder why FI did not start it earlier. SK might worry, but then again there is that huge gap of no ORD-OSL flight. After this announcement Oslo must be pretty much the largest unserved market out of Chicago in Europe

thekorean · Tue May 12, 2015 11:20 pm

Is MDW instead of ORD feasible?

b747400erf · Wed May 13, 2015 12:55 am

Quoting flybynight (Reply 16):
Is it me, or does DEN seem an odd choice for IF?

The mountains and southwest is a popular destination for European tourists. A ski in the winter and backpacking in the summer starting point.

S75752 · Wed May 13, 2015 1:34 am

Took 'em long enough. Sounds like it'll make a good MAX route when those start arriving.

frostyj · Wed May 13, 2015 1:44 am

Quoting B747400ERF (Reply 43):

Is it, since when?

S75752 · Wed May 13, 2015 1:58 am

Quoting B747400ERF (Reply 43):

The mountains and southwest is a popular destination for European tourists. A ski in the winter and backpacking in the summer starting point.

That and it's in 757 range, so more of a why not. When they start getting their 737 MAX's to take over all of the east coast routes, they'll be able to put the 757's on routes that need the range, like the existing DEN, SEA and PDX, as well as... Uhh.... Maybe YYC, SLC, MIA/FLL. MSY or SJU if they wanted to be extremely unpredictable. think of any places east of Iceland that would take a 757 that is within range.

thekorean · Wed May 13, 2015 2:08 am

Quoting S75752 (Reply 46):

Aren't they supposed to get 787 as well soon?

What would happen when the 757 can't fly anymore?

b747400erf · Wed May 13, 2015 5:28 am

Quoting frostyj (Reply 45):

Is it, since when?

You do not know the popularity of the mountains and national parks in the west? Americans go backpacking in Europe for vacation, Europeans go to America's national parks.

RWA380 · Wed May 13, 2015 6:17 am

Quoting gkirk (Reply 1):

Is there a large number of fish restaurants in Chicago?

Right out of the gate.

Quoting B747forever (Reply 2):
With them getting 767s we might even see LAX/SFO.

Expect an LAX announcement, can't tell when however.

Quoting flyingclrs727 (Reply 8):

I wish they had flights from IAH or DFW

I seriously doubt the 757 can do either DFW or IAH w/o penalty & the market for FI isn't in Texas, luckily Texas has just about every other carrier from Asia or Europe, so be happy you have your International cup overflowing currently.

Quoting B727skyguy (Reply 25):
Actually this is not new service, per se. FI served ORD 25 years ago with a DC-8. I took it on my first trip to Iceland. The flight operated ORD-BOS-KEF.

I knew someone would get it before I swas able to post it. ORD was one of the first FI destinations in N.A. IIRC. All Dc-8s, those 8's carrier a lot of fish.

Quoting Kelvin933 (Reply 30):
increasing costs and make more destinations subject to the DEN effect (the 752 stays in DEN for 23h)

They are doing this with PDX, the reason being the same crew works the return flight the next day.

Quoting bigfoot0503 (Reply 31):
Indeed impressive...add to that PDX which comes on-line May 20th.

I'm going out to see if I can see her come in in the evening.

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