Ragnhildur Geirsdóttir appointed Flugleiðir Icelandair Group's CEO Jón Karl Ólafsson appointed Icelandair's CEO

Flugleiðir Icelandair Group has appointed Ragnhildur Geirsdóttir, Icelandair’s Senior Vice President, the Group's new CEO and Jón Karl Ólafsson, the Managing Director of Air Iceland, as Icelandair’s new CEO. Together they will work with Sigurður Helgason, the Group’s retiring CEO and formally begin their new roles on the 1st of June 2005.

Changes will also be made to the organizational structure of Flugleiðir, the parent company. Flugleiðir will play a greater role in forming a coherent strategy for all its subsidiaries, synchronizing actions and increasing service and support. These changes will be developed over the next few weeks and presented at the Group’s annual general meeting on March 10th.  

Ragnhildur Geirsdóttir, 33, graduated as a mechanical engineer from the University of Iceland in 1995. She has an M.S. degree in industrial engineering and operation management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She started working for Flugleiðir in 1999 and in 2003 was appointed Icelandair’s Senior Vice President Resource Management.

Jón Karl Ólafsson, 46, graduated from University of Iceland’s business department in 1984. He started working for Flugleiðir in the Group’s finance department and became a manager of Icelandair’s route network. Later he was the General Manager of Icelandair’s office in Frankfurt Germany for 5 years and has been the Managing Director of Air Iceland since 1999.

Hannes Smarason, the Group’s Executive Chairman said, “Ragnhildur Geirsdottir and Jón Karl Olafsson have both played an important part in the Group’s top management in recent years, and I look forward to working with them in their new roles.”

Icelandair U.S. gateways offer nonstop service from New York (JFK), Boston, Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orlando and San Francisco (starting May 18, 2005) to the airlines hub in Reykjavik, Iceland. Nonstop flights continue to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Holland and France.

For additional information please contact your Professional Travel Agent, call Icelandair at (800) 223-5500 or visit www.icelandair.com