Denver will become Icelandair's 9th North American gateway when the prestigious international airline begins its year-round, nonstop service from Denver to Reykjavik, Iceland starting May 2012.
The airline’s fleet of Boeing 757 aircrafts will help connect the Mile High City from Denver International Airport (DIA) through its Reykjavik center at Keflavik International Airport to more than 20 destinations in Scandinavia, U.K. and Continental Europe. The new four nonstop flights per week service to Europe will provide convenient access to Iceland as well as connection points to London, Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Manchester and Glasgow, among other cities.
Icelandair is the first new carrier to initiate transatlantic service at DIA in more than 10 years. With Europe being Denver’s largest international market, it accounts for one-third of DIA’s international origination and destination travel. Nevertheless Denver has been underserved in transatlantic access. The new air service however is expected to bring nearly 300 jobs to Colorado, including 33 direct jobs, generating an estimated $9 million in wages and more than $19 million in tourism spending. This would bring around $28 million in annual economic impact to the state.
According to Birkir Holm Gudnasson, CEO of Icelandair, "We were thrilled to choose Denver from a short-list of potential new gateway cities, as we feel it is a natural fit for Icelandair. Denverites will love the nature, lifestyle and culture of Iceland, while Icelanders will feel at home with the landscape, active lifestyle, and independent philosophy in Denver.”
As Tourism is one of the regions biggest potential growth markets and is Denver’s second-largest industry, the Icelandair service would also enhance the options for skiers from Scandinavia, Europe and Iceland, to make Colorado an even more attractive winter holiday destination, according to Melanie Mills, president and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA. She further stated, “Attracting international guests to Colorado’s world-class ski resorts has been a long-standing priority of Colorado Ski Country USA and Skiers will certainly balance out the seasonality in traffic from these markets.”
With all said and done, Icelandair is happy to enter Denver with competitive airfares and convenient routes to Iceland and onwards and to celebrate service from the Mile-High City, it is offering the Mile-High Getaway to Iceland starting from $679 per person!
You can visit the airline’s website for further information about routes, fares and travel packages………
