Icelandair Has Stopped Flying To 10 US Airports Following Its Exit From Detroit

Due to its extensive network, the US is Icelandair’s top country to/from its Keflavik hub. According to the US Department of Transportation, nearly 1.55 million passengers traveled in 2024, which was its best year on record. They visited the ever-popular country, whose tourism industry continues to grow, and connected throughout wider Europe.

While Nashville joined its map in 2025 and Miami International Airport will do so in the upcoming winter, all flights to Detroit have been removed after January 2026. It will be the carrier’s first exit from a US airport since 2020. Icelandair had planned up to a five times weekly Boeing 737 MAX service next summer, against Delta Air Lines’ daily 757-200 operation. Not coincidentally, both airlines began the route in May 2023. Given Icelandair’s exit, it’ll be interesting to see if or when Delta pulls out.

How Icelandair’s US Traffic Has Evolved

Credit: US DOT

Between 1990 and 2024, the US DOT indicates that Icelandair carried 19.74 million passengers to/from the US. The best year to date was in 2024, when 1.55 million people were transported. It filled 83.60% of the available seats. While this was relatively low in itself, it says nothing about fares and yields.

Notice the period between 2017 and 2019, when Icelandair’s traffic was significantly higher than in the preceding years. While it carried 1.39 million passengers in 2018, its load factor fell to just 78.90%, which was its lowest in over a decade. It was never going to last. This period coincided with the entry and rapid development of the now-defunct WOW Air, which shaped Icelandair’s US development significantly, even if it was just temporary.

Icelandair Has Pulled Out Of These 10 US Airports

Credit: Icelandair

Since 1990, the DOT indicates that Iceland’s flag carrier has ceased passenger flights to ten US airports. It even flew to Kansas City, albeit briefly, with the photo above of that launch. Do not misunderstand. Kansas City to/from Europe is a reasonably sized market. When all airlines are combined, an estimated 230,000 passengers traveled in 2024. But it was nonetheless somewhat ‘out there’ for the carrier.

Like several others listed below, Kansas City was exclusively served during what was Icelandair’s previous peak traffic period. This coincided with the airline’s fast growth—both traffic and network—because of the entry and expansion of the now-defunct WOW Air. In 2018, which had Icelandair’s second-highest traffic volume after 2024, it flew to 18 US airports. WOW flew to 15.

PLAY materialized from WOW’s ashes. But while WOW took a highly aggressive approach to its network, PLAY intentionally did not. It wanted to implement the lessons. Despite this, its sole remaining US route will end in October.

3 Airlines Flew Between Iceland And Dallas/Fort Worth

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

WOW’s debut in Dallas/Fort Worth occurred in May 2018, when it launched a three-weekly A330-300 operation. Icelandair followed later that month, with a four-weekly 757-200 service. A month later, American launched a daily 757-200 flight from its busiest hub, which was an unsurprising competitive response. This marked the oneworld member’s entry into Iceland.

For a brief while, Dallas/Fort Worth—which had not previously had any Iceland flights—had a trio of carriers. There were up to three daily departures. Like a storm in the night, things predictably unraveled very quickly. WOW pulled out in October 2018, followed by Icelandair in January 2019. American did so in October 2019. Will Delta now end Detroit-Keflavik flights?