Icelandair reviewing its current options

By August 19, 2019 January 16th, 2020 General News

According to a company spokeswoman for the airline, Icelandair is currently conducting a large-scale review of its future fleet requirements.

The Icelandic airline has been one of the carriers that is currently suffering from the grounding of the 737 MAX – it has five MAX 8s and one MAX 9 within its fleet, plus an additional three -8s and six -9s currently on order.

The airline has stated that the current review is not related to the worldwide grounding.

Like many operators, to fill the gaps, within its summer schedule, the carrier has had to wet-lease two Boeing 767s and temporarily acquired a single 757. The airline has also brought in two De Havilland Dash 8-400s from its domestic sister operator Air Iceland Connect.

The MAX, when it entered service was expected to replace some of the types then in service, along with helping the airline to increase its route expansion network, to locations that were not yet able to handle the airline’s 757 or 767-300s, but this has not been possible since the worldwide grounding order in March.

Icelandair’s spokeswoman confirmed that the review was already underway before the grounding took effect and that the airline is looking at three possible options:

  1. Maintain the current fleet, with continued use of the company’s Boeing 757-200s alongside its 767-300s and 737 MAX.
  2. A faster renewal of the fleet, with Airbus A321neo introduced alongside the 737 MAX aircraft and a quicker retirement of the 757-200s.
  3. A complete switch from Boeing to Airbus types.

The airline has stated that no timeline has been given to the conclusion of the review and the process is currently ongoing.