About

What we do

With Iceland as our hub and home, our core business is built around our international route network and the unique geographical location of the country which makes Iceland the perfect connecting hub between Europe and North America. We serve four markets – to, from, via and within Iceland. 

We also operate an airfreight and logistics business through Icelandair Cargo and aircraft leasing and consulting services through subsidiary Loftleidir Icelandic.

Business model

Iceland’s unique geographical position provides Icelandair with significant strategic advantages. This is encapsulated in the ability to serve four markets simultaneously, TO, FROM, VIA and Within Iceland. Our aircraft depart to Europe early in the morning and return to Iceland in the afternoon. They depart to North America late afternoon arriving there early evening and return to Iceland at the dawn of the next day, just in time to depart again for Europe.

The running of the 24-hour hub through the heart of the network at Keflavik Airport provides Icelandair with great flexibility to change its market emphasis in line with different conditions and the capability to serve a broad range of transatlantic markets with high aircraft utilization. Furthermore, it enables Icelandair to draw from a larger pool of potential passengers than point-to-point competitors flying to and from Iceland, and thus to fly more routes at a higher profitability. In addition, the hub location allows Icelandair to serve a wide range of transatlantic markets on a cost-efficient narrow body fleet. By mixing TO/FROM and VIA passengers in the same aircraft, Icelandair can fly to destinations that are not feasible for point-to-point competitors.

Strategy and structure

The heart of Icelandair Group’s business model is the international route network and the unique geographical location of Iceland which serves as a connecting hub between Europe and North America, creating sustainable value for the Company's shareholders and other stakeholders.

In recent years, Icelandair Group’s strategy has been aligned to the Company’s increased focus on its core business, aviation. Furthermore, the strategic importance of Iceland as the Company's hub was reinforced.

Vision

What we aim to achieve.

We bring the spirit of Iceland to the world

Mission

What we do – our purpose.

We offer smooth and enjoyable journeys
to, from, via and within Iceland
– our hub and home

Guiding principles

How we create value in the short and medium term.

The way to fly to, from, via and within Iceland

Agile and financially sustainable business

Embracing our people and the planet

Values

Driven by passion

Guided by responsibility

Executed with simplicity

Organizational structure

The Company’s operations consist of seven divisions:

Board of directors

Gudmundur Hafsteinsson is an investor and entrepreneur and previously led product development for Google Assistant at Google. He joined Google in 2014 subsequent to the merger of Google and Emu, a chat-based virtual assistant start-up he founded in 2012. Prior to the founding of Emu, he was VP Product at Siri, and stayed on after the acquisition by Apple through the launch of Siri on iPhone 4S. Prior to Siri/Apple, Guðmundur was a Senior Product Manager at Google, where he managed the initial launches of Google Maps for mobiles and Google Voice Search. Guðmundur holds an MBA degree from MIT and a BSc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Iceland. He joined the Board of Icelandair Group on 8 March 2018. Gudmundur is born in 1975 and is an Icelandic and U.S. citizen. Gudmundur is independent of the company, its management and significant shareholders and has 8,555,555 shares.

Gudmundur Hafsteinsson

Chairman

Nina Jonsson, born in 1967. Nina is currently a Senior Advisor at aviation consultancy Plane View Partners and a board member at aviation technology firm FLYHT. Between 2015 and 2017, she held the role of Senior Vice President Group Fleet at Air France-KLM Group where she was responsible for group-wide fleet strategy, aircraft sourcing, leasing and sales. Previously, Ms. Jonsson held a number of other executive positions within the aviation industry including Fleet Management Officer at the Bristow Group (2012-15), Director Fleet Planning at United Airlines (2006-2011) and Director Fleet Management at US Airways (2002-2005). Ms. Jonsson holds an MBA degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.Sc. degree in Air Transport Management from the University of New Haven. She joined the Board of Icelandair Group on 6 March 2020. Nina is born in 1967 and is an Icelandic and U.S. citizen. Nina is independent of the company, its management and significant shareholders and has no shares.

Nina Jonsson

Vice Chairman

John F. Thomas, born in 1959. John is owner and CEO of Waltzing Matilda Aviation LLC, a jet charter and aircraft management company based in Boston that he founded in 2008. From 2016-2017, Mr. Thomas was Group Executive at Virgin Australia Airlines where he led a financial turnaround as CEO of a AU$ 4.0bn (appr. USD 3bn) full service carrier with over 6,000 employees and 125 aircraft, and from 1990-2016 he was with the global strategy consulting firm L.E.K. Consulting, as a Managing Director/Senior Partner from 1993 and created and led the Global Aviation Practice for over 16 years. Additionally he is a Senior Advisor to the management consultancy McKinsey & Co., the aviation infrastructure firm Nieuport Aviation Infrastructure Partners GP and the tourism technology firm Plusgrade. He also sits on the Board of SkyService Inc. the largest corporate aviation provider in Canada where he also Chairs its Health and Safety committee. He continues to provide advisory work to the global airline industry. Mr. Thomas holds an MBA degree from Macquarie University Graduate School of Business (which included 9 months at the MBA program at INSEAD) and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales. He joined the Board of Icelandair Group on 6 March 2020. John is born in 1959 and is an Australian and U.S. citizen. John is independent of the company and has 3,394,500 shares.

John F. Thomas

Board Member

Matthew Evans, born in 1986. Matthew joined Bain Capital Credit in 2009. He is a Managing Director in the Industry Research team based in Bain Capital Credit’s New York office, where he oversees investments in the Aviation, Aerospace & Defense, and Industrials sectors. Mr. Evans sits on a number of portfolio company boards and has also led the development of several external partnerships and joint ventures within the aviation sector. Mr. Evans received a B.A. Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude from Yale University. He neither holds shares nor share options in the Company. He joined the Board of Icelandair Group on 23 July 2021. Matthew is born in 1986 and is a U.S. citizen. Matthew is independent of the company and its management. However, he is a board member as the representative of the Company’s largest shareholder and as such he is not independent from the Company’s major shareholders and neither holds shares nor share options in the Company.

Matthew Evans

Board Member

Svafa Grönfeldt, born in 1965. Svafa is a Professor of Practice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a founding member of MIT's newest innovation accelerator DesignX focused on the design and development of technology and service-based ventures created at MIT. Svafa is the co-founder of The MET fund, a Cambridge based seed investment fund. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Össur since 2008 and Origo since 2019. Previous positions include executive leadership positions at two global life science companies where she served as Chief Organizational Development Officer of Alvogen and Deputy to the CEO of Actavis Group. Her executive career has been focused on organizational design for high growth companies, strategy implementation, service process design for operational improvement and performance tracking. She is a former President of Reykjavik University. Svafa holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics where she examined the impact of customer-oriented behaviours and service design on business outcomes. She joined the Board of Icelandair Group on 8 March 2019. Svafa is born in 1965 and is an Icelandic and U.S. citizen.  Svafa is independent of the company, its management and significant shareholders and has 12,500,000 shares.

Svafa Grönfeldt

Board Member

Executive management

Bogi Nils has served as President and CEO of Icelandair Group since December 2018 after having served as CFO since 2008 and Interim President and CEO from August 2018. He was the CFO of the investment bank Askar Capital from January 2007 and the CFO of the international seafood company Icelandic Group from 2004 to 2006. Bogi Nils served as an Auditor and Partner at KPMG in Iceland during the years 1993-2004. He holds a Cand. Oecon. Degree in Business from University of Iceland and is a Chartered Accountant.

Bogi Nils Bogason

President & CEO Icelandair Group

Árni has served as Managing Director of Loftleidir Icelandic since January 2018 after having served as the Chief Financial Officer of the company since 2002. Prior to that he was the Chief Financial Officer of the Icelandic technology companies ANZA and Alit. He holds a Cand. Oecon. Degree in Business Administration from University of Iceland.

Árni Hermannsson

Managing Director of Aircraft Leasing and Consulting

Einar Már Guðmundsson was appointed Managing Director Air Freight and Logistics in September 2023. He has worked for Icelandair since 2015 as a Director at the company’s Technical Operations. Previously, Einar Már was the Leader of Procurement at Rio Tinto Alcan (ISAL) for three years and before that he was the Operations Manager of Skeljungur. Einar Már has an MBA degree from Copenhagen Business School and a BS degree in Science of Fisheries from the University of Akureyri.

Einar Már Guðmundsson

Managing Director Air Freight and Logistics

Elísabet has served as Chief Human Resources Officer since January 2018. She worked in Human Resource Management at Islandsbanki since 2007 and as the Head of Career Development for the last five years. Her main projects at Islandsbanki included supervision of all staff education and training, management training and executive coaching among other strategic human resource projects. From 2000 to 2007, she worked for Capacent Gallup on research and consultancy. Elísabet holds a BA Degree in Psychology from University of Iceland and a MA degree in International Human Resource Management from the EADA Business School in Barcelona.

Elísabet Helgadóttir

Chief Human Resources Officer

Ívar S. Kristinsson was appointed as CFO in May 2021. He has been with the Company since 2010, his last position as Director in Finance, previous to that he served as the Managing Director of Icelandair’s Fleet and before that as the Managing Director of Resource Management. Prior to that, he was a Director in Operations at Promens from 2006 to 2008 and Project Manager at Icelandair from 2000 to 2005. Ivar holds an MSc. Degree in Industrial Engineering from University of Iceland and an MBA in Corporate Finance from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Ívar S. Kristinsson

Chief Financial Officer

Rakel has served as Chief Digital Officer since March 2022. She joined Icelandair from pharmaceutical company Alvotech where she served as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Before that she was CIO and VP of Global Program Management Office at the international orthopedics company Össur. Prior to that, Rakel worked for 14 years at Arion Bank where she served as Managing Director of Corporate Development and Marketing from 2011 and was CIO from 2016 where she led the successful digital transformation of the bank. Rakel has an MBA from Duke University in the US and a B.Sc. degree in computer science from the University of Iceland.

Rakel Óttarsdottir

Chief Digital Officer

Sylvía has served as Chief Operating Officer since August 2023. Prior to that she served as Chief Customer Officer. Sylvía rejoined Icelandair in 2022 from technology company Origo where she served as Managing Director of Business Development and Marketing. Sylvía first joined Icelandair in 2018 and served as Director of Operations Support and later as Director of Network Planning & Scheduling. She worked at the energy company Landsvirkjun from 2015 as the Head of its Geothermal Department. Prior to that, Sylvía worked for Amazon in Europe for five years, first in operations and planning and then in the company's Kindle department where she was in charge of business intelligence, marketing and product development. Sylvía holds an M.Sc. degree in operational research from the London School of Economics and a B.Sc. degree in industrial engineering from the University of Iceland. Sylvia is Chairman of the board of IS Funds Ltd.

Sylvía Ólafsdottir

Chief Operating Officer

Tómas was appointed Chief Commercial Officer in August 2023. Previously, Tómas served as Chief Revenue Officer since November 2021. From February 2019 to November 2021, Tómas was Chief Information Officer and assumed additional responsibilities for Network and Strategy as Chief Business Development Officer in April 2020. He was Chief Commercial Officer of WOW air in 2018 and Director of Rapid Digitization at Arion Bank between 2016 and 2018. Tómas was the Chief Business Development Officer of WOW air in 2014. Prior to that he was a Management Consultant at Bain & Company in Copenhagen and served as the Director of Revenue Management and Pricing at Icelandair for several years. Tómas holds an MBA Degree from MIT Sloan School of Management in Boston, MSc. Degree of Engineering in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and a BSc. Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Iceland.

Tómas Ingason

Chief Commercial Officer

Our fleet

Icelandair Group has a flexible fleet that marries commonality with varying sizes, capabilities, and ownership costs. The fleet comprises a total of 44 aircraft. 

It consists of a mix of aircraft suitable for different missions within the network, providing the airline with flexibility.

Icelandair operates flight simulators for Boeing 757, Boeing 767 and Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at a training facility in Iceland. The facility is well utilised year-round, for Icelandair and other airlines.

Our aircraft