A night in Washington: FI KEF-IAD

Introduction

Welcome to my latest trip report! As many of you know, I travel to Florida around twice every year. 2013 was no exception, and in November I had already booked a trip south with the routing KEF-IAD / DCA-TPA-BOS-KEF on Icelandair, US Airways and jetBlue. The aircraft types were nothing special (at least not for me - 752, 319, 320, 753) but I was happy to be able to experience US before they’ll get integrated into American. I was also looking forward trying Reagan Airport out and was hoping for a departure over the city.

This report will be in three parts – the first part covers flight FI 645 from Keflavik to Washington Dulles, 2nd part covers US 1517 from Washington Reagan to Tampa while the last one covers B6 446 from Tampa to Boston and on to Keflavik aboard FI 630.

If you’re interested in my earlier reports, they can be found at the bottom of the page.

This report is dedicated to William (a.net member globalflyer) as he’ll be flying flt. 645 this summer on his first visit to Iceland.  The report

Friday afternoon I went to icelandair.com and printed my OLCI boarding pass. I chose seats 11AC for me and my brother with the middle seat empty. Row 11 was the first row of Economy on today’s flight. Our parents and sister would sit behind us in 12ABC. All seats in front of row 11 that day were part of the Economy Comfort section.

Come Saturday, it was my best friend’s birthday and I went to meet him just after noon after agreeing with my parents to pick me up around 3pm. Sure, at 3:10 my dad came and picked me up for the 45 minute drive to KEF airport.

FI 757 seen arriving at KEF



WOW Air 320 LZ-MDD (lsd from Air VIA) had just arrived in KEF after being painted into the WOW Air scheme.



TF-FIC taxiing in from Munich as FI 533.



Nearly caught them in the same frame! FI 533 taxiing in while TF-FIG, one of Icelandair Cargo’s 75Fs, departs for JFK as FI 783.



Nice looking structure outside the KEF terminal



Leifur Eiriksson Terminal




After parking our car at the long-term parking we went inside and checked in using the Saga Class check-in. After showing my dad’s Saga Gold Card the agent tagged our bags and in no time we were done and ready to go through security.

FIDS – not overly busy, but still impressive for an airport with a catchment area of under 150,000. For example, on Sundays KEF has 6 daily flights to London! (FI 3x (2 LHR 1 LGW), WOW 2x and Easy 1x) BOS was operated by the X (TF-FIX, FI’s sole 753) and both JFK flights were jam-packed with all jumpseats taken. No wonder FI are starting EWR!



Check-in area



Airside



FIDS + info



Further into the terminal




I grabbed some hot chocolate at Kaffitár and then after a quick bathroom break it was time to head to the gate. Passport checks took no time at all and soon we were in the queue for the aircraft. Walking down the jetway we recognized the first officer in the cockpit as our uncle and thought we might ask him about a quick visit up front sometimes in the flight.

The bathroom corridor has some of the best photo opportunities at KEF! TF-FIY in the background would be taking me to IAD later.



TF-LLX was heading for LHR as FI 454. I have 2 flights on LLX, both flown on the same trip in July 2011 (KEF-FRA and BCN-KEF). Back then it still had white engines and a white tail and the only had the stylished orange “F” on the tail to identify it as Icelandair. You can see my plane in the background.



TF-IST is done for the day after a morning run to Scandinavia





TF-LLX heading for Heathrow

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A pretty large queue for boarding. It went by quickly though.



TF-FIY ‘Grábrók’ ready to take me across the pond

View Large View Medium Photo © Simon Larsson

View Large View Medium Photo © Alexander Arildsson

View Large View Medium Photo © Martin Djupenstrom

View Large View Medium Photo © Oliver S. Porter

Flight information
Date: 23. March 2013
Airline: Icelandair (FI/ICE)
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200/winglets
Registration: TF-FIY ‘Grabrok’
Flight number: FI 645
From: Keflavik International Airport (KEF/BIKF)
To: Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD/KIAD)
Runway at origin: 20
Runway at destination: 1R
Sched/Act departure: 17:00/16:59
Sched/Act arrival: 19:10/18:56
Blocked time: 6 hrs 10 mins
Flight time gate to gate: 5 hrs 57 mins
Flight time RWY to RWY: 5 hrs 47 mins
Seat & Class: 11A (Economy Class, Y)

Aircraft information:
Boeing 757-256 TF-FIY (former EC-HIV and P2-ANB)
S/N 29312 L/N 943
First flight 28.09.2000
Delivered new to Iberia 10.10.2000
Delivered to Icelandair 10.07.2007 (leased out 11/2007 – back to FI 12/2011)
12.4 years old at time of flight
Currently 22 757-200s are active in the airline’s fleet

Personal information
My 244th flight, 1st in 2013
My 137th flight on FI, 133rd on FI 757, 120th on FI 752
My 136th flight on 757, 124th on 752, 2nd on TF-FIY

Former appearances


View Large View Medium

Photo © Wietse de Graaf

View Large View Medium Photo © Rui Miguel

View Large View Medium Photo © Andres Castro

View Large View Medium Photo © Sam Chui

View Large View Medium Photo © Steven Austen

I was greeted by the purser at the door who offered me water. I thankfully accepted and drank it after arriving at my seat.

View out my window



TF-LLX
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Jetway no longer connected – ready for pushback!



Pushback



Legroom is fine here




We pushed back 1 minute ahead of schedule and soon the mighty Rolls-Royce RB211s roared to life. After a short taxi to runway 20 we lifted off into the cloudy sky and climbed to our first crusing altitude of 34,000 feet. Later we climbed up to FL370 and eventually 380.

TF-FII to Denver as FI 671. I will be flying this route in late May on my way to Oklahoma.



FIX heading to Boston.



Turning away from our gate



Bye KEF, see you next month!



Turning onto runway 20



Ready – set – go!



The WOW 320 in the distance



Almost ready



And…



…up!



Gotta love climbing on a 757 – feels like a rocket!



Slowly leveling off



Turning on course



Nearing the coast – flaps up



Leaving Iceland behind for the next 2 weeks! As you can see, some sun is badly needed!  

Between cloud layers



Here comes the sun!



Way better than below the clouds



Water: Finished.



Watching Peter do his thing in Family Guy



Just getting started!



Lovely blue skies outside



Around an hour into the flight dinner was served. I was so hungry that I unfortunately forgot to take pictures before half through my baguette and I was done with my delicious mini-burgers! I’ll let some pictures follow though.

Pringles, protein par and Pepsi



What was left of my baguette when I remembered snapping a pic



My orders side by side on the menu




Soon after dinner the majestic island we call Greenland came into view. As usual, the views were lovely. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.





















Watch the awesome reflection on the engine!



The last iceberg



Progressing nicely





When Greenland was behind, I had nothing to do but watch some TV. Luckily FI’s IFE has many of my favorite shows such as Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy, Two And A Half Men, The Simpsons and The Vaktir Series (Icelandic comedy – Næturvaktin/Night Watch, Dagvaktin/Day Watch and Fangavaktin/Prison Watch).

When we had around 2 hrs to go, the pilot came back to us and asked if we would like to come up front. Of course you can’t say no to such an offer, so we walked with him to the cockpit and spent a pleasant half an hour chatting to the pilots about all things aviation related. We went back to our seats again with around 1.5 hrs left.

Seat en detail



View from my seat



Cruising comfortably



US of A below



The flight nearing its end




With around half an hour to go, I heard the engine noise decrease and with a quick look outside saw that descent had started. After making a sharp 180° turn we lined up with runway 1R and landed smoothly.

Descending into the evening sky



Turning over Virginia



Beautiful! The sun lits up the orange engine



Nice evening light



Flaps down with the city in the distance



You can just make out the Lincoln Memorial in the centre of the picture



Turning on final while the moon watches





On final



Sun shining directly into the lens – not good for quality pictures but makes some interesting effects!



Nearly there!



Gliding over the numbers



Touchdown!



Slowing down



First time I see the 76W in United’s colors. Looks pretty sharp!







Beautiful evening in DC, the FA tells us that the weather is 18°C (66°F). Perfect!



Some UA triple 7s



Euro heavies: KLM 330, AF whalejet and a BA 767 at their gates



And some much smaller planes



Wonderful sunlight



UAX CRJ with the tower in the background



Finally – a moon buggy! 

Turning for gate A16



Looks kinda cute



AA coming in




Deboarding took no time at all and soon we were walking to the moon buggy beside the gate. Had been looking forward trying these out since booking the flight! 

Our aircraft seen from the buggy





Interior



Yay! My first sighting of the 747-8i! D-ABYA, first 748 for Lufthansa and first in service. Departing into a wonderful sunset, FRA bound.



[Edited 2013-04-18 12:52:15 by luxair747sp]

TK 343 and another aircraft climbing in the background



TC-JII had just arrived from Istanbul



Immigration took a while but not nearly as long as I had expected from the horror stories I’ve heard about Dulles. When we were through our bags were already on the bag carousel and 35 minutes after docking to the gate we were out of the terminal. Not bad at all!

Welcome to the USA!



Last rays of the day as this aircraft climbs out



We found a taxi and told him where to go. Our hotel for the night was Hyatt Crystal City, just 3 minutes away from DCA. After some 20 minutes in the taxi we arrived at the lobby of the hotel. Soon we were in our rooms and after a quick meal from room service it was time to go to slepp for tomorrow’s flight.

Logo



Lobby





Our room









Conclusion

Icelandair once again delivered good service and I really enjoyed this hop over the Atlantic. The 6 hours went by in a flash and I could only wish the flight had been longer.

IAD was a nice surprise and of course I loved the moon buggies! Not only they’re fun to ride and funny-looking but they give some very nice views of the ramp.

Stay tuned for the next part featuring US Airways’ service from Washington (DCA) to Tampa (TPA) and pictures from my stay in Florida.

Thanks for reading!
Sveinn  

Earlier reports (in chronological order from newest to oldest):

Florida October 2012

KEF – JFK / LGA – TPA: Glaciers, MD80s And Manhattan! FI/DL KEF-LGA-TPA (by SRQKEF Dec 6 2012 in Trip Reports)
SFB - KEF: Siesta Key, Busch Gardens And Gators! FI SFB-KEF (by SRQKEF Jan 14 2013 in Trip Reports)

Around-the-world trip April 2012

KEF – YYZ: RTW Pt 1: To New York...or What? FI KEF-YYZ (by SRQKEF Apr 12 2012 in Trip Reports)
YYZ – IAH – LIM: RTW Pt. 2: I'll Get To Peru Somehow! QK/UA YYZ-LIM (by SRQKEF May 4 2012 in Trip Reports)
LIM – CUZ – LIM: RTW Pt.3: Wonders Of Peru! TA LIM-CUZ R/t (by SRQKEF May 6 2012 in Trip Reports)
LIM – YYZ: RTW Pt.4: Canada...again?! AC LIM-YYZ (by SRQKEF May 7 2012 in Trip Reports)
YYZ – NRT: RTW Pt. 5: 13 Hours In The Air! AC YYZ-NRT (by SRQKEF May 14 2012 in Trip Reports)
NRT – HKG: RTW Pt 6: The 77Ws Older Sister! CX NRT-HKG (by SRQKEF May 22 2012 in Trip Reports)
HKG – SIN: RTW Pt 7: Roaring To Singapore! TR HKG-SIN (by SRQKEF Jun 20 2012 in Trip Reports)
SIN – BKK: RTW Pt. 8: Smooth As Silk To Bangkok! TG SIN-BKK (by SRQKEF Jul 16 2012 in Trip Reports)
BKK – DEL – BOM: RTW Pt. 9: Widebodies In India! CX/AI BKK-DEL-BOM (by SRQKEF Aug 2 2012 in Trip Reports)
BOM – MCT – DXB: RTW Pt. 10: From BOM To DXB Direct? No Way! (by SRQKEF Aug 26 2012 in Trip Reports)
DXB – CDG – LHR – KEF: RTW Pt.11: Trying Out The Whale! DXB-KEF Final Pt. (by SRQKEF Sep 16 2012 in Trip Reports)

Florida October 2011

KEF – SFB – KEF: Florida Vacation...The Boring Way! FI KEF-SFB R/t (by SRQKEF Sep 30 2012 in Trip Reports)

Florida April 2011

KEF – SFB / TPA – PHL – BOS – KEF: Southwest To The Northeast! WN TPA-PHL-BOS+FI Flts (by SRQKEF Mar 18 2012 in Trip Reports)

Germany February 2011

KEF – LHR – FRA: Going To Mainland Europe For Sports! Pt. 1/2 (by SRQKEF Feb 24 2012 in Trip Reports)
MUC – LHR – KEF: To The Mainland For Sports! Pt 2 BA+FI MUC-LHR-KEF (by SRQKEF Mar 14 2012 in Trip Reports)

Nice report! Nice to see a review of FI's flight to IAD. I flew BWI-KEF-ARN on FI when I was only 18. Great to see FI back in the DC area.

Quoting swedenflyer (Reply 2):

Hi swedenflyer, thanks for the kind comments!

Quoting swedenflyer (Reply 2): I flew BWI-KEF-ARN on FI when I was only 18.

Actually KEF-BWI is my most flown route! (flown over 25 times)  
Was sad when it was closed.

Quoting swedenflyer (Reply 2): Great to see FI back in the DC area.

Agreed, great to get service to DC again! For me, who travels so often to Florida, Washington is often the best option with multi-daily service to TPA from both DCA, IAD and BWI and a daily service from DCA to SRQ.

Regards!
Sveinn  

Hey,

Thx for another FI report.

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): WOW Air 320 LZ-MDD (lsd from Air VIA) had just arrived in KEF after being painted into the WOW Air scheme.

Never heard of this airline.

With BOB on fairly long flights and poor legroom, I am still not impressed with Icelandair. I did not know they have so many destinations in the USA.

Thx for shearing, Jonathan

Nice trip report! I flew on FI way back when they had a DC-10 for a short time in 1979. I flew JFK-KEF-LUX they had the high density seating 3-4-3 on it. Also the terminal in KEF was nothing more than a quonset hut back then. They got rid of the DC-10 aftter the DC-10's were grounded in the USA after the AA DC-10 crash in Chicago which happened a month after I flew this trip. Then FI went back to the DC-8. Wish I had been able to stay in Iceland for a while instead of just a stopover..

Hello, nice TR! Thank you for sharing. Is always good to read about Icelandair.- It's an airline I wanna try and I hope I'll soon.- Also, it is good to see same-age members here!

Greetings, Joaquin

Good report on Icelandair! Looks like you had a nice flight with them.

I'm still amazed Icelandair no longer serves free meals on its flights to the US. Interesting that they did this for really long range flights in their network too, such as Seattle, Minneapolis ..

Thanks for sharing!

Matthew (767747)

Hi Sveinn, great TR as usual...your Uncle was the pilot??? What a small world!   Good to see what I will be getting on the FI flights to/from IAD. I booked Economy Plus but may upgrade to Business if there is availability on the day of departure. Does FI send notices out like other carriers that for XXX Euro you can upgrade or maybe one of those Optiontown options? What gate does FI use in IAD? I saw on the website where they use the AF Lounge there. I am excited to visit REY! Thanks for the dedication! Cheers, Will

Nice report as always! You sure were treated to some spectacular views of Greenland!

Thanks for sharing! Seems you had a great flight, and what nice hotel you had  
On FI, if you want hot food, do you need to preorder or can you still get a regular meal (against payment) one board? a sandwich may be a bit too less for some travellers...

Quoting EL-AL (Reply 4): Thx for another FI report.

Hi Jonathan! Thanks for reading.  

Quoting EL-AL (Reply 4): Never heard of this airline.

Started last summer and grew considerably when they bought Iceland Express last fall.

Quoting EL-AL (Reply 4): With BOB on fairly long flights and poor legroom, I am still not impressed with Icelandair. I did not know they have so many destinations in the USA.

Yeah, many complain about that and I understand that. Still, it's working for them so there's no reason to stop it.  

Quoting stratosphere (Reply 5): Nice trip report!

Hi stratosphere, thanks for reading!  

Quoting stratosphere (Reply 5): I flew on FI way back when they had a DC-10 for a short time in 1979.

Now that was a financial disaster...

Quoting stratosphere (Reply 5): Also the terminal in KEF was nothing more than a quonset hut back then.

I know! It's come a very long way in a short time.

Quoting stratosphere (Reply 5): Wish I had been able to stay in Iceland for a while instead of just a stopover..

It's not too late! FI still offer stopover fares via Iceland.  

Quoting joacocifuentes (Reply 6): Hello, nice TR!

Hi Joaquin, thanks for reading and for the kind words.  

Quoting joacocifuentes (Reply 6): Also, it is good to see same-age members here!

Agreed!  

Quoting 767747 (Reply 7): Good report on Icelandair! Looks like you had a nice flight with them.

Hi Matthew, thanks for the kind words!  

Quoting 767747 (Reply 7): I'm still amazed Icelandair no longer serves free meals on its flights to the US. Interesting that they did this for really long range flights in their network too, such as Seattle, Minneapolis ..

Yeah, as cheap as it is this practice gives FI alot of additional revenue each year and people still choose them.  

Quoting globalflyer (Reply 8): Hi Sveinn, great TR as usual...your Uncle was the pilot???

Hi Will, thanks for reading! Yes, a small world indeed.  

Quoting roberts87 (Reply 10): Nice report as always! You sure were treated to some spectacular views of Greenland!

Hi Robert, thanks for reading and for the kind words! Yes, I was lucky there. Greenland is always magnificent in clear skies.

Quoting reifel (Reply 11): Thanks for sharing! Seems you had a great flight, and what nice hotel you had

Hi reifel, thanks for reading! Yes, both the flight and the hotel were nice.  

Quoting reifel (Reply 11): On FI, if you want hot food, do you need to preorder or can you still get a regular meal (against payment) one board?

There is always both a hot meal, baguette and sandwiches on offer. Most often it's either chicken or fish.  
If you want to have something other than chicken/fish, you have the option to pre-order.  
But, yes, hot meals are served as regular meals.

Quoting reifel (Reply 11): a sandwich may be a bit too less for some travellers...

Agreed, especially if you've travelled all the way from Europe. It's different if you originate in KEF (like me) then something light is usually enough.

Hello Sveinn,

Nice picturesque story. KEF is really the walhalla for 757 lovers (me! me!  ) FI has quite some flights to the USA, it seems. They still do BOB I presume?

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): WOW Air 320 LZ-MDD (lsd from Air VIA) had just arrived in KEF after being painted into the WOW Air scheme.

The name doesn't say anything on the livery which imho is not 'wow' at all.

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): and both JFK flights were jam-packed with all jumpseats taken.

So FI is your carrier to choose is you want a ride on the jumpseat   

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Water: Finished.

I like that bottle!

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): When we had around 2 hrs to go, the pilot came back to us and asked if we would like to come up front. Of course you can’t say no to such an offer, so we walked with him to the cockpit and spent a pleasant half an hour chatting to the pilots about all things aviation related. We went back to our seats again with around 1.5 hrs left.

Wow, I envy you a bit for being able to go into the deck. That probably doesn't happen every flight or does it?

Sultanils

Quoting Sultanils (Reply 12): Nice picturesque story.

Hi Nils, thanks for reading and for the kind words!  

Quoting Sultanils (Reply 12): KEF is really the walhalla for 757 lovers (me! me! &nbsp

Yes, I think it's the only airport in the world with 90+% of the departures being 757s (was 95+% when Iceland Express were still flying with 757s from AEU).

Quoting Sultanils (Reply 12): They still do BOB I presume?

Yup.

Quoting Sultanils (Reply 12): The name doesn't say anything on the livery which imho is not 'wow' at all.

Haha agreed! 

Quoting Sultanils (Reply 12): So FI is your carrier to choose is you want a ride on the jumpseat

Haha of course I meant all seats and jumpseats taken.  
ID ticket holders were moved to the cockpit / galley.  

Quoting Sultanils (Reply 12): I like that bottle!

Yes, it's a lovely design.

Quoting Sultanils (Reply 12): Wow, I envy you a bit for being able to go into the deck. That probably doesn't happen every flight or does it?

Nearly every flight on FI.  
As my dad is a former board member of Icelandair Group and was a high-ranking manager, he knows nearly every crew we get. That has it's benefits.  
I've even scored whole roundtrips to Europe on the jumpseat! KEF-FRA-KEF, KEF-LHR-KEF and KEF-HEL-KEF are the routes I've gotten thus far - hope to get KEF-BGO-SVG-KEF this summer, now that's a route I like!  

Nice report - it would seem that Iceland makes a pretty good hub for traffic between North America and Europe. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Hi Sveinn,

Another nice Icelandair report from you on yet another trip to the USA  
Would love to try Icelandair out sometime, but who knows when  
I transferred through IAD myself back in March. I really didn't like those "moon buggys".. Being crammed into such a thing after an 11 hour flight is the last thing you want.. No troubles at immigration although it did take half an hour because there were only 2 guards on duty!

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): FIDS

Wow, I didn't know Icelandair had 2 flights to JFK with 10 minutes in between, impressive!

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Just getting started!

I love that map!

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Soon after dinner the majestic island we call Greenland came into view

Beautiful pictures, I am always unlucky when flying over Greenland..

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Of course you can’t say no to such an offer, so we walked with him to the cockpit and spent a pleasant half an hour chatting to the pilots about all things aviation related. We went back to our seats again with around 1.5 hrs left.

No pictures?

Thanks for sharing!

cheers,

Brendan

Hi Sveinn!

Nice report with nice pictures !

FI looks nice as always and those flights are longer than expected; you'd think the KEF is almost half-way but it's still a long way to IAD/JFK.

Nice to see more pictures from IAD, where I worked for about five years.

Looking forward to your next report!

The777Man

Well what a coincidence...TF-FIY ‘Grábrók’ also took me across the pond last night! I booked Economy Comfort but my seat was a Business Class seat. Seems strange that they do that but I was happy. The flight was really empty... 6 in Saga and 7 in Economy Comfort. I had two Saga seats to myself!  

Hey! What a great report with stunning pictures. I enjoyed reading every single word. I find funny the fact Icelandair has BOB on what would be considered long-haul from the usual European departure cities. Prices are a bit high but I guess given the everall flight time, it's a good feature.

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Progressing nicely

Usually, at this point, I've been in the air for a few hours and may well start getting bored. Lucky Iceland halfway either side of the pond.
Can't wait for the next part to be online!

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Sveinn,

another nice report about FI! Should be on the carrier for the first time soon.

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): I was happy to be able to experience US before they’ll get integrated into American.

I guess that will still take some time.

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): WOW Air 320 LZ-MDD (lsd from Air VIA) had just arrived in KEF after being painted into the WOW Air scheme.

Just read an article about Wow, it seems they have ambitious plans. Hopefully it won't become a threat to FI.

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): TF-FIC taxiing in from Munich as FI 533.

Ah, I don't like the frames with white belly - why don't they get the regular colors?

Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Soon after dinner the majestic island we call Greenland came into view. As usual, the views were lovely. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Great!


PH

Quoting christao17 (Reply 14): Nice report - it would seem that Iceland makes a pretty good hub for traffic between North America and Europe. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Hi christao17, thanks for reading! Thanks for the kind words, yeah FI have quite a good hub here as it is.

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 15): Another nice Icelandair report from you on yet another trip to the USA

Hi Brendan, thanks for reading!

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 15): I transferred through IAD myself back in March. I really didn't like those "moon buggys".. Being crammed into such a thing after an 11 hour flight is the last thing you want..

Haha but you get nice views!  

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 15): No troubles at immigration although it did take half an hour because there were only 2 guards on duty!

Yeah, that's what I've heard - once my uncle (another FI pilot) arrived on the same time as AF 380/LH 748/KL 330/TK 343 (over 1500 people) and there was only 1 officer on duty! Soon another one arrived but he was still stuck for over 3 hours. Luckily his connecting flight to Miami wasn't until the next day (he was deadheading to operate the FI 757s/767Ss for SBA MIA-CCS and then some various missions for 3 weeks).

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 15): Wow, I didn't know Icelandair had 2 flights to JFK with 10 minutes in between, impressive!

I know right? Reason for why KEF-NYC is nearly 4x daily (24 weekly) next summer and also why FI are adding Newark next winter. Delta are also coming into the market in June and fly here til' September.

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 15): I love that map!

Same here.

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 15): Beautiful pictures, I am always unlucky when flying over Greenland..

One day you'll get lucky, I'm sure!  
At least you had fantastic views of the Alps on your S2000 flight (just read the report, nice.   )

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 15): No pictures?

Haha, sorry was too busy chatting to remember.  

Quoting The777Man (Reply 16): Nice report with nice pictures !

Hi Lars, thanks!

Quoting The777Man (Reply 16): FI looks nice as always and those flights are longer than expected; you'd think the KEF is almost half-way but it's still a long way to IAD/JFK.

Yeah, many are still surprised how short KEF-Europe is though. Longest connectingflights are MUC and CDG at 3.5 hours. In the summer some O&D routes such as BCN, MXP and MAD are operated though.

Quoting globalflyer (Reply 17): Well what a coincidence...TF-FIY ‘Grábrók’ also took me across the pond last night!

Hi Will! Nice!

Quoting globalflyer (Reply 17): I booked Economy Comfort but my seat was a Business Class seat. Seems strange that they do that but I was happy.

Why not let Y+ pax have more comfort if the J seat is empty anyways? Glad you got the J seat, I told you it might happen! :P

Quoting globalflyer (Reply 17): The flight was really empty... 6 in Saga and 7 in Economy Comfort. I had two Saga seats to myself!

Great you had a nice flight!

Quoting okapi (Reply 18): Hey! What a great report with stunning pictures. I enjoyed reading every single word.

Hi okapi, thanks for the kind words! Means alot to me as a "developing" trip reporter (it's still only a year since my first TR   )

Quoting okapi (Reply 18): Usually, at this point, I've been in the air for a few hours and may well start getting bored. Lucky Iceland halfway either side of the pond.

Haha, yeah, my friends who live in the mainland also tell me that when we talk about TATL flights. One of them even lives in India and used to live in NYC so he has 15 hr flights 2x-4x times a year! Not that I would complain though, the more flying the better.  

Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): another nice report about FI!

Hi PH, thanks for reading.  

Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): Should be on the carrier for the first time soon.

Yeah, I remember you telling me that. Aren't you flying out of Toronto?

Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): I guess that will still take some time.

True. But still, I don't get many opportunities to use the legacy airlines as we mostly like to use WN and B6 (especially after the FI/jetBlue codeshare via BOS & JFK went through).

Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): Just read an article about Wow, it seems they have ambitious plans. Hopefully it won't become a threat to FI.

Actually, WOW help FI more than they threaten. For FI to have another local airline keeps both LCC airlines such as FR, W6 etc. and legacies such as KL, AF, BA, LH etc. away as they think the competition is too much. Currently only SAS (FI partner), Norwegian and Easy operate year-round. Also, FI and WOW are in different markets. FI is the high-end option while WOW caters to the lower-yield traffic.

Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): Ah, I don't like the frames with white belly - why don't they get the regular colors?

Hahaha - at least they don't have white engines as TF-LLX in 2011!  
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Photo © Lasse Kaila


The reason is simple though: those birds just arrived from either AA (TF-ISF / TF-IST) or recently came home from a lease (TF-FIC recently came from Air Niugini). When the next maintenance check is due the aircraft will be repainted in the process (and in the case of TF-FIC, retro-fitted with winglets).