In March 2026, Icelandair transported 342 thousand passengers, 10% more than in March 2025. Passenger distribution was as follows: 39% traveled to Iceland, 22% from Iceland, 32% were connecting passengers, and 7% traveled within Iceland.
The number of passengers to and from Iceland increased by 16% and 32% respectively, while connecting passengers decreased 6% year-on-year. This reflects the Company's focus on the markets to and from Iceland which were the largest contributors to the 11% increase in yields.
Load factor was 83.5%, the same as last year's record for March, and on-time performance was 75.4%, affected by challenging weather conditions in Iceland during the month. Sold block hours in the leasing operations increased by 45%, and freight, measured in freight ton kilometers (FTK), increased by 7%.
Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair CEO:
"We continue to see the benefits of our current network strategy, focusing growth on the winter and shoulder seasons and on the markets to and from Iceland. This approach supports a more balanced operation throughout the year and enables us to direct capacity to the most profitable markets as demand evolves. We saw a positive 45% increase in our leasing operations, which helped mitigate seasonality. During the month, we launched service to Faro, a popular destination in southern Portugal that has been well received by our customers.
Fuel prices rose sharply during the month alongside heightened geopolitical unrest in the Middle East. We have responded to this by implementing various actions, including cost-control measures, fare increases and capacity adjustments for the second quarter.
We experienced challenging weather conditions in Iceland during the latter part of the month, which resulted in disruptions to our flight schedule. I want to thank our customers for their understanding and cooperation, and the Icelandair team for their hard work in minimizing disruptions and getting our passengers safely to their destinations."
Contact information
Asdis Petursdottir, Director Communications and Sustainability. E-mail:?asdis@icelandair.is
