AIRLINE - Iceland's PLAY game overs with bankruptcy filing

PLAY (Iceland) (OG, Reykjavik Keflavik) has filed for bankruptcy at Reykjavík District Court, shortly after suddenly halting its flight operations on September 29, 2025. Innherji, a local business news website, reported that bondholders have been trying to relocate the carrier's entire fleet to still-active Maltese subsidiary PLAY Europe (FPE, Malta International), but at least some of them appear to have been repossessed.

The court appointed a trustee on September 30, following a hearing launching the airline's bankruptcy. The Icelandic carrier plans to hold a meeting with creditors in the first week of October.

The representatives of the investors, who bought bonds worth ISK2.8 billion Icelandic króna (USD23.1 million) priced at 17.5% per year earlier this year, are now in talks with the executives and lessors concerning the transfer of the six A320-200Ns remaining on the Icelandic AOC. ch-aviation data shows that four are leased from AerCap and two from CALC.

While initial reports have suggested that the aircraft could be transferred to the Maltese entity even before the first meeting of creditors takes place, ch-aviation research shows that three AerCap-owned A320-200Ns, TF-PPD (msn 7576), TF-PPE (msn 11123), and TF-PPF (msn 11344), were ferried to Toulouse Francazal on September 30. The other three A320s remain parked, one each at Reykjavik Keflavik, Paris CDG, and London Stansted, where they were when the grounding was announced.

The airline previously transferred its three A321-200Ns and one A321-200NX to PLAY Europe. The Maltese subsidiary, which is wholly owned by the Icelandic carrier, continued operations on behalf of SkyUp MT on September 30, a day after its parent stopped all flights. However, ADS-B data shows that all three of its active aircraft (two A321-200Ns and one A321-200NX) were ferried to Toulouse Francazal on September 30. The fourth aircraft, A321-200N 9H-PED (msn 7945), remains under maintenance at Ostrava and has never operated under its Maltese registration.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir told local media that the airline's decision to suspend all flight operations had surprised her. Even though she was aware of PLAY's strained financial situation, she expected the carrier to continue until at least the end of the year. She added, however, that given the airline's recent downsizing and the overall strength of the Icelandic economy, the collapse will have a less detrimental effect on the country than that of WOW air in March 2019.

CH Aviation / Photos: PLAY
 

ROUTES - PLAY OUTLINES PLAY EUROPE A321NEO 2Q25 OPERATIONS

 Icelandic low-cost carrier PLAY today (08APR25) begins Airbus A321neo operation operated by its Maltese subsidiary PLAY Europe. Currently operational schedule is filed for the period of 08APR25 – 01MAY25, based on OAG schedules analyser listing.

Planned operation includes the following.

Reykjavík Keflavík – Alicante 10APR25, 15APR25, 17APR25, 19APR25, 25APR25, 26APR25, 01MAY25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Amsterdam 24APR25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Barcelona 14APR25, 21APR25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Berlin 28APR25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Copenhagen 11APR25, 20APR25, 21APR25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Fuerteventura 09APR25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Lisbon 11APR25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Madrid 28APR25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Malaga 08APR25, 12APR25, 22APR25
Reykjavík Keflavík – Paris Charles de Gaulle

13APR25 – 18APR25 Day x236

29APR25
01MAY25

Reykjavík Keflavík – Porto 13APR25, 24APR25

Reykjavík Keflavík – Tenerife South 16APR25, 23APR25, 27APR25

Planned operation by PLAY Europe (TQ) aircraft remains subject to change.

Photo: Flyingphotos

ROUTES - PLAY Expands To Africa With New Morocco Airbus A320 Route

PLAY launches direct flights to Marrakesh, Morocco in October, offering affordable travel options for European and North American customers.

The airline also introduces extended layovers in Iceland at no extra cost, allowing travelers to explore Iceland's sights before continuing on their journey.

PLAY expands its Mediterranean network with new services to Madeira and continues to increase its destination options for sun-seeking Icelanders.

Icelandic low-cost airline PLAY will launch the country's first-ever direct flights to Morocco, connecting Reykjavík with the popular Moroccan city of Marrakesh. The airline will begin the route in October with two weekly flights and also announced a new connection to Madeira.

PLAY announces Reykjavik-Morocco flights for October

The carrier has now opened ticket sales for its upcoming service between Keflavik International Airport (KEF) and Marrakesh Menara Airport (RAK) - the first flight will leave for Marrakesh on October 17th, with PLAY operating frequencies on Thursdays and Sundays. The connection was made possible through a partnership with the Moroccan National Tourist Office, which is looking to enhance the country's air connectivity and draw in more visitors.

PLAY announces Reykjavik-Morocco flights for October

The carrier has now opened ticket sales for its upcoming service between Keflavik International Airport (KEF) and Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK) - the first flight will depart to Marrakech on 17th October, with PLAY operating frequencies on Thursdays and Sundays. The connection was made possible through a partnership with Morocco's National Tourism Office, which aims to improve the country's air connectivity and attract more visitors.

The Moroccan city will not only be easily accessible for Icelanders - PLAY's network is also based on connecting North American and European customers, taking advantage of Iceland's strategic location, as will its national airline, Icelandair. While most European travelers have other reasonable (and possibly direct) flight options to get to Marrakech or Morocco, the same cannot be said for North American customers.

The airline also offers another interesting initiative to travelers in the form of an extended stopover at no extra cost. This is an ideal way to see the sights of Iceland before continuing to a later destination.

Impressive Mediterranean network

At the same time, Icelandair revealed a new service connecting Rekjyavik to Madeira - it will start on October 15th and operate every Tuesday. The airline now connects Iceland to eight destinations in Spain – Alicante, Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Madrid, Málaga, Mallorca and Tenerife – along with three in Portugal, with Madeira joining Lisbon and Portugal, without forget the seasonal service to Athens, Greece.

CH Aviation

PLAY / A320Néo / F-WWBV / msn 11064

 Alain Charpentier

PLAY to evaluate A321LR/XLR after 2025

Despite deferring plans to add A321-200NX(LR)s, PLAY (Iceland) (OG, Reykjavik Keflavik) still sees the A321-200NX's extended-range variants as "really, really interesting" aircraft and could add them to reach more distant destinations, Chief Executive Birgir Jónsson told the Simple Flying Aviation News Podcast.

"It is a really, really interesting aircraft because it gives you some kind of benefit of having like a widebody jet. It gives you the range, but the cost profile is completely different. So it might actually be perfect for this [business] model," Jónsson said.

The Icelandic low-cost carrier planned to take a single A321-200NX(LR) in 2022 to add a new route to Orlando Int'l but deferred these plans due to the rapidly rising fuel prices. Jónsson said that instead of the extended-range variant, the airline secured a favourably priced A320-200N originally earmarked for smartavia (5N, Arkhangelsk Talagi) but not taken up due to international sanctions on Russia.

Orlando remains one of the potential destinations that the airline would explore beyond the range of its current fleet.

"We do not have any fixed plans to introduce an LR or even an XLR, but we are monitoring it closely because the geographical location of Iceland, especially when you consider the XLR, can open some really, really interesting opportunities," Jónsson emphasised.

However, PLAY will only evaluate the A321neo(LR) or (XLR) after 2025. The LCC first intends to execute its initial fleet plan of growing to 15 aircraft. It currently operates three A320-200Ns and three A321-200Ns.

"We believe that in this niche market, 15 aircraft is the right point in time to take stock and evaluate the situation," he stressed.

He conceded that once PLAY grows beyond 15 aircraft, it would most likely have to schedule a second connecting bank at Keflavik. This would enable it to launch longer routes which would not fit into the current, single-bank schedule.

Jónsson pointed out that PLAY prefers to grow gradually instead of outstripping Reykjavik Keflavik's market potential. In an interview with ch-aviation early this year, he stressed that the carrier wants to avoid the mistakes made by WOW air (WW, Reykjavik Keflavik), which functioned well with a narrowbody-only fleet but then collapsed after it went into the widebody market.

Ch aviation

First A320NEO for Play ( TF-PPA - Serial #: 9357 ) ex SaudiGulf Airlines

Ostrava Leos Janacek Airport - LKMT, Czech Republic

By: Radim Koblizka

Iceland's PLAY to debut US routes in early 2Q22

 

PLAY (OG, Reykjavik Keflavik) has announced plans to start hub operations at Reykjavik Keflavik with the start of flights to the United States starting on April 20, 2022. The launch will take place two months earlier than originally planned.

The low-cost carrier plans to connect Iceland with two destinations in the US in the first phase, namely Baltimore Thurgood Marshall (starting on April 20) and Boston (May 11). Both routes will be operated daily with A321-200N aircraft. The carrier will provide connections via Keflavik to its existing European network. In so doing, PLAY will mirror Icelandair's business model as well as that of the now-defunct WOW air.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that PLAY currently operates three A321-200Ns and is soon to take its first A320-200N. Its tentative commitments through the end of 2023 foresee the deliveries of five A320-200Ns and another A321-200N.

ch-aviation

PLAY (Iceland) has added four new destinations to its summer schedule for 2022 with flights to Bologna in Italy, Stuttgart, Prague, and Lisbon. Flights to Lisbon and Prague will begin in May and flights to Bologna and Stuttgart in June.

 

PLAY to expand fleet

During the presentation of its 2021 second quarter results, PLAY announced it has signed two Letter of Intents (LoI) with two lessors to expand the fleet with six additional aircraft. The first LoI is for two new A320neos with a planned delivery in the first quarter of 2022. The second LoI is for three A320neos and one A321neo with delivery in the first quarter of 2023. All six aircraft will be factory new aircraft. A deal for an additional aircraft is being negotiated, which would bring PLAY's fleet to ten aircraft in 2023.

Next year, the Icelandic carrier will also expand its route network with additional destinations in Europe as well as opening the first routes to the US. Currently, the airline flies its three A321neos year-round to Alicante, Berlin, Copenhagen, London-Stansted, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Tenerife. It also has seasonal flights to Barcelona, Las Palmas, Salzburg and Warsaw.

Further expansion of the fleet is planned as well, with the fleet growing to twelve aircraft in 2024 and to fifteen by 2025.

Photo by PLAY.

Iceland's PLAY targets mid-2Q22 for US market debut

PLAY (OG, Reykjavik Keflavik) has set in motion plans to start scheduled flight operations to the United States in summer next year after it applied to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for exemption authority and a foreign air carrier permit.

In the application, the Icelandic budget airline said only that it intends to start scheduled passenger flights from Iceland to the US East Coast in June 2022 using its existing fleet of A321-200Ns. As such, the authority sought to cover both scheduled and charter flights ferrying passengers, mail, and cargo.

Operational since June this year, PLAY is planning to develop Reykjavik Keflavik into a transatlantic hub providing cheap travel between Europe and North America (Canada included). At present, its network covers Spain and the Canary Islands, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, and Denmark.

"Once major cities on both sides of the Atlantic have been connected, it will be possible to start adding services to smaller markets with less direct competition, both to and from Iceland and across the Atlantic," it said in its IPO prospectus published earlier this year.

Unlike the ill-fated WOW air (WW, Reykjavik Keflavik) which had also sought to exploit Iceland's ideal geographical location in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, PLAY says it has no plans to add any widebody aircraft. As such, it will stick with the A320neo Family of jets. The advent of North American flights will also help drive up unit profitability through increased aircraft utilisation of 13-14 hours per day, it added. As such, PLAY's anticipated average sector length in 2023 will be 2,899 kilometres.

Last month, chief executive Birgir Jónsson said the current plan is for PLAY to grow to 15 aircraft by 2025.

ch aviation

Icelandic Startup Play To Receive Its First Jet Within Weeks

PLAY’s first aircraft coming soon

The airline that nobody was sure would ever take off is moving closer to a launch of its flights. PLAY, the Icelandic startup that aims to fill the void left by WOW Air, is reportedly set to receive its first A321neo by the end of this month, and two more in the coming weeks.

Recently appointed CEO Birgir Jónsson confirmed this plan for deliveries. He said that the first aircraft will arrive in early June, with the second two joining the fleet in July. All will be A321neos.

The publication further notes that although the A321neos are designed to carry up to 220 passengers, PLAY intends to outfit them for just 200, to ensure passenger comfort. Pilots for the airline are reportedly already undergoing flight simulator training in the UK, readying for the arrival of the first jet.

PLAY intends to be a low-cost airline, and has already noted that early destinations will include London, Paris, Copenhagen, Alicante and Tenerife. Its first flight has been announced for June 24th, but the initial destination is being kept under wraps.