Icelandic startup airline PLAY has today announced its third destination in North America. Following Baltimore in April and Boston in May, June will see the airline arriving at New York Stewart Airport. Simple Flying caught up with the airline’s CEO Birgir Jonsson to find out more about his expansion plans.
New York can come out to PLAY
It’s shaping up to be a very exciting 2022 for Icelandic startup PLAY. The airline is laying the ground to double its fleet size – having finished 2021 with three A321neos in its fleet, in not too long it will have a family of six. Not only that, but the airline is planning its first flights west of Iceland, touching down in Baltimore in April and Boston in May.
The airline has today announced its third US destination – New York. But it’s not going to be JFK or Newark that sees the red planes, but Orange County’s Stewart International (SWF). With its arrival, PLAY will become the first new international airline at Stewart since 2019.
Tickets are on sale today, and as usual, PLAY has some incredible offers to entice those early bookings. Until February 7th, bookings made for travel later in the year can be found for as little as $109. That’s from SWF right through to 11 European destinations, including London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Brussels, Stuttgart, Trondheim, and Gothenburg. And, of course, Keflavik, Iceland.
In total, PLAY will be serving 22 European destinations with a one-stop itinerary to New York. For passengers going west, the airport offers a much easier immigration experience, with a new Customs and Border Protection facility recently constructed at a cost of $30 million. Its small size will make for rapid transit through the airport, and at just an hour and a half away from downtown Manhattan, it’s an interesting option for those keen to visit the city.
In terms of onward travel, the airport is served by JetBlue, Frontier, and Allegiant, mainly with flights down to Florida. But it’s not only the low-cost presence and the easy transit to New York that has made Stewart a hot pick for PLAY. SImple Flying caught up with the airline’s CEO Birgir Jonsson to find out why he picked this airport.
To hear the conversation with Mr Jonsson in full, tune into our webinar at 10:00 GMT below:
Why Stewart?
Mr Jonsson spoke warmly about the choice to implement Stewart, and of the airport itself. He told us,
“I’m absolutely in love. I think that we have found there a catchment area that is completely underserved when it comes to international travel. It’s in the Hudson Valley, it’s about an hour and a half from Manhattan and there are many local attractions. It will allow us to create the lowest price between Europe and New York. And I’m unbelievably excited about this.”
Sticking to his low-cost ethos makes Stewart a top choice. It’s not slot-controlled, so there’s no shortage of well-timed arrival and departure points for the airline. Compared to some of the larger New York area airports, the landing fees will undoubtedly be much more affordable, letting PLAY keep the lid on its costs. But it’s not only transatlantic disruption that’s making Birgir Jonsson excited.
“What’s important to realize is that not everyone is going into central Manhattan. And if we look at what’s happened in that area, in the Hudson Valley and upstate New York, in COVID times there’s been a migration from the city to that area. Real estate prices have grown 30% – 40% because there’s been an influx of people from the city. These people have no way of traveling internationally from their home region.”
For PLAY, it’s like the airline has uncovered a hidden gem. They have a pool of young, affluent, brand-agnostic residents living near to this airport who will be very keen to explore Europe with an affordable connection locally. Mr Jonsson believes so strongly that this is a very different market to that around New York City, he said he would even consider another airport in the region in the future. He said,
“This is a whole other market from JFK or or or Newark. This is a completely different market. And I would be very interested in in the future even having two destinations in New York because I think this is a completely unique market.”
PLAY’s first flights will depart on June 9th, 2022. To hear more from the CEO, join our webinar at 10:00 GMT.
