Icelandic low-cost carrier PLAY Airlines has announced that August 2024 was one of the most successful months in its three-year history. While the carrier saw passenger numbers continuing to rise, it also saw load factors reach their highest-ever level.
PLAY carried 187,960 passengers in August 2024, representing a 1.8% increase over August 2023 when the airline flew just under 185,000 passengers. Meanwhile, the company’s network load factor in August 2024 reached 91.6%, setting a record for the highest load factor in a single month for the airline. This figure represents an impressive 2.7% increase over the 88.9% load factor recorded in August 2023.
“A record month for PLAY in terms of load factor is something we are extremely proud of,” said Einar Örn Ólafsson, CEO of PLAY Airlines. “It shows that our services are well received in our markets and that demand has picked up. This achievement is especially notable as August can be a tricky month for sales due to the return to normal routines after summer vacations. Despite that, we managed to increase both our passenger numbers and our load factor,” he added.
The budget carrier operated to 32 destinations during the month from its home base in Reykjavik-Keflavik International Airport in Iceland (KEF). Out of this total, 22 of these routes achieved a load factor of over 90%. In addition to the record load factor, PLAY also achieved an on-time performance of 91.5%, which the airline claims was “significantly higher than its main competitors”.
This punctuality means that PLAY has been the most punctual airline operating departures from KEF International Airport for 13 months in a row.
Breaking down the results for August 2024, 25.9% of all passengers were departing from Iceland, while 35.6% were flying to Iceland as their final destination, with 38.5% being connecting passengers using KEF as their connecting point between PLAY services to Europe and North America.
PLAY is particularly pleased with how the development of the carrier has been to the benefit of its home-grown local community. In August 2024, 48,694 passengers flew from Iceland. This figure marks a notable increase from August 2023, when 41,112 passengers flew from Iceland, and represents an 18.4% growth in the carrier’s local market.
“We’re particularly pleased to see the growth in our ‘to Iceland’ traffic year-over-year, as well as the significant increase in passengers flying from Iceland,” said Ólafsson. “This demonstrates that our local market is happy with our services, and our decision to offer a wide range of sunny destinations to Icelanders is paying off.”
“On top of this, our operations team did a fantastic job maintaining an on-time performance of 91.5%, once again making us the most punctual major airline flying from Keflavík International Airport. Looking ahead, we’re excited to see our forward bookings trending ahead of last year, and I’m looking forward to the coming months with my team at PLAY,” he concluded.
Yet more new routes coming
Not resting on its laurels, in August 2024, PLAY launched ticket sales on two new routes to Faro in Portugal and Aalborg in Denmark. Faro will be PLAY’s fourth destination in Portugal (after Lisbon, Porto, and Funchal on the island of Madeira) while Aalborg will be its third in Denmark, adding to Copenhagen and Billund.
Additionally, the company has also recently announced an increase in its weekly services to Vilnius in Lithuania, increasing services from one weekly flight to two per week starting in 2025.
Adding to this list of European destinations, the airline announced on September 9, 2024, that it had begun taking reservations on a new route to Pula in Croatia. The first flight to Pula will depart Iceland on May 31, 2025, with weekly services operating every Saturday until August 16, 2025.
Pula becomes PLAY’s second destination in Croatia, joining the carrier’s summer-only flights to Split. Having already enjoyed some success in the Croatia market, in 2025, the airline will also be increasing its services to Split, operating up to two flights per week during the peak summer season.
PLAY commenced flights in June 2021 and in summer 2025 will serve a total of 44 destinations across Europe, North Africa, and North America. The carrier operates a fleet of ten Airbus A320neo family of aircraft consisting of six 174-seat A320neos plus four 214-seat A321neos, all with an average fleet age of just 3.8 years.
