Iceland's Airline Plays It Smart; Keeps It Simple. - TRAINS & TRAVEL WITH JIM LOOMIS

Icelandair really has it’s act together. As far as I can tell, every international flight they offer either originates or terminates at Keflavik International, which is the main airport serving that country and its capital, Reykjavik. And that makes a great deal of sense. Flights from North America land at Keflavik and most of the time your connecting flight to any number of major European cities departs an hour later. Or even less. No complicated schedules; no extra-long bone-wearying flights. You land in Iceland, go through immigration, grab a cold drink, stretch your legs, and board your flight to London or Paris or Frankfurt or Zurich. Last October, I flew from Seattle to Reykjavik and we took off for Paris 50 minutes later. Pretty slick. And quite efficient.

Furthermore, the only planes they fly on their international routes are Boeing 757’s. At least that’s the only kind of aircraft you see coming or going and on the ground in Raykjavik. That, too, makes a lot of sense and has to save a lot of money when it comes to maintenance and repairs. Once again, quite efficient.

Last year I took Icelandair from Seattle to Paris, with a stop at you-know-where. There was nothing noteworthy about either flight. Except, of course, that the fare was almost half what American Airlines wanted to fly me there from Los Angeles.

Next June, I’m going to once again take Icelandair for another trip to Europe. This time I’ll leave from Boston, fly non-stop to Reykjavik and connect there with another non-stop to Zurich. Total time, Boston to Zurich: 9.5 hours, including the 50-minute stop in Reykjavik. The fare was $423.

The only airline that would get me their in less time is Swissair, which has a non-stop flight from Boston to Zurich. That would cut two hours from the total time, but it would also cost $600 more. Anyway, I’m going to stick with Icelandair.