The new low cost carrier in Iceland is about to start flights to the United States.
Baltimore and Boston flights will be launched by PLAY.
Play will begin flights between Iceland and the United States in the spring of 2022. The airline will use an all-economy configuration of the A321neo aircraft on their initial flights to Baltimore and Boston.
PLAY will operate daily flights between Keflavik and Baltimore on April 20, 2022.
OG101 Keflavik leaves at 3:05PM and arrives in Baltimore at 5:50PM.
OG101 Baltimore to Keflavik arrives at 5:00AM on the day.
The flight is blocked at 6 hours 45 minutes.
PLAY will operate daily flights between Keflavik and Boston on May 11, 2022.
OG109 Keflavik to Boston arrives at 5:35PM.
OG 112 Boston to Keflavik arrives 4:30AM on the day.
The flight is blocked at 6 and 30 minutes.
PLAY has a business model that connects travelers to other points in Europe, even if they can only use the flights to travel between the United States and Iceland. Passengers can connect to PLAY's other European destinations on these flights. Schedules are designed to minimize travel time.
The introductory fares are very low. You can fly from Boston to London for just $56 one-way. PLAY is an ultra low cost carrier, so you will pay extra for just about everything.
PLAY operates the A321neos.
I am curious to see how PLAY grows.
Ultra low cost carriers are great for consumers. They offer low fares, but they also cause legacy carriers to have to lower fares as well.
Long haul ultra low cost carriers don't have a great track record of being profitable. WOW Air ceased operations in 2019. PLAY is essentially replicating what WOW Air did, except the airline is growing at a more sustainable pace, and I would assume it also has a better cost structure.
PLAY launched service over the summer, though only operated between Iceland and other points in Europe, which isn't really the core business model of an airline like this. PLAY can start using Iceland as a hub now that the airline has extended service to the US.
It will be worth watching how frequencies are adjusted and which destinations PLAY adds next.
WOW Air looks similar to PLAY.
The bottom line.
PLAY will begin flights to the United States in the spring of 2022. Travelers will be able to access a number of other points in Europe with the airline's daily flights to Baltimore and Boston.
Introductory fares are great, but keep in mind that the airline charges extra for everything, from carry-ons to seat assignments.
What do you think about PLAY's expansion to the US? Do you think the airline will succeed?
Ben is the founder of OMAAT.
