Last year, Southwest Airlines partnered with Icelandair to link travelers from its network to Iceland and beyond. The airline originally announced that the relationship would begin with connections at Baltimore/Washington International, but has now confirmed that Denver and Nashville will also act as network connecting points.
Three times as nice.
Last year, the two airlines inked a Memorandum of Understanding to form a strategic collaboration. The alliance will connect consumers between the two airlines’ networks, with sales and travel through Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) starting next month. Speaking with Simple Flying last year, Icelandair officials stated that the cooperation is critical to the carrier’s expansion into the US.
While Icelandair already has partnerships with JetBlue and Alaska Airlines, the Southwest Airlines partnership represents an opportunity to bring passengers from across the US to Iceland due to Southwest’s significant domestic presence, according to Icelandair’s Director for North America, Grimur Gislason.
“We’ve very much covered the West Coast with the Alaska Airlines alliance, and JetBlue is on the East Coast. We needed the Middle-South of America, but we lacked connections. Southwest was the final piece of the puzzle that enabled us to accomplish that.”
Three times as nice.
On January 15th, the two airlines announced plans to expand its collaboration to include two new airports: Nashville, Tennessee and Denver, Colorado. Last month, Simple Flying forecasted the next two cities alongside Icelandair’s Airbus A321LR arrival.
The additions will create new and interesting opportunities for both airlines’ customers this summer, allowing them to fly to Iceland and Europe via Baltimore, Nashville, and Denver.
Meanwhile, Europeans will be able to travel from Iceland to Southwest’s enormous network through the three gateways. Tómas Ingason, Icelandair’s Chief Commercial Officer, expressed how exciting the relationship is for the airline:
We are thrilled to have finalized our agreement with Southwest and pleased to be selected as Southwest’s first airline partner.
The cooperation will provide new and exciting connections for our customers with Southwest to a variety of destinations in North America, while their passengers will benefit from our broad links to Iceland and Europe.
“We welcome Southwest to our strong partnership portfolio in the US and ever-growing group of partner airlines and look forward to working together in offering our customers smooth and enjoyable travel experiences.”
Icelandair’s seasonal flights from Nashville International Airport (BNA) to Reykjavík’s Keflavik International Airport (KEF) will begin on April 10, 2025. The flights will be operated by a Boeing 737-800 MAX, which seats 16 in Saga Premium and 144 in Economy. The flight will last around 7 hours and will operate four days each week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
Southwest will begin flights from Music City to Indianapolis International Airport (IND), Mexico’s Los Cabos International Airport (SJD), and the Dominican Republic’s Punta Cana Airport (PUJ) in March.
The deal will also include connections through Denver International Airport (DEN), a key city for Southwest Airlines. Icelandair inaugurated service at DEN in May 2012 and has consistently carried nearly 10% of Denver-Europe passengers throughout the years.
Passengers can connect to any of Southwest’s 85 routes now operating from Denver. Ryan Green, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President & Chief Transformation Officer, stated that the alliance will improve customer experiences:
“It’s right that we begin this chapter of industry-standard airline relationships with our longtime friends, Icelandair.
“Beyond an ability to offer each other’s Customers access to new destinations and like-minded travel experiences centered around hospitality and value, we’re grateful to have been guided by their expertise and best practices in building our program.”
Passengers can also connect through Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, as previously announced. Beginning June 5th, Southwest will offer nonstop transcontinental flights between BWI Marshall and six west coast markets: Long Beach (LGB), Ontario (ONT), Portland (PDX), San Francisco (SFO), San Jose (SJC), and Seattle.