ICELANDAIR INAUGURATES NONSTOP SERVICE FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO EUROPE

COLUMBIA, MD, MAY 18 – Icelandair’s nonstop service from San Francisco to Europe will be launched May 18, 2005, with the arrival of flight FI 671 from the airline’s hub in Reykjavik, Iceland. The inaugural flight will include Halldor Asgrimsson, Prime Minister of Iceland, along with numerous dignitaries from the government of Iceland and Icelandair’s Head Office.

San Francisco International Airport is Icelandair’s sixth North American gateway and first direct service from the west coast, with current gateways in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Boston, New York-JFK, Baltimore/Washington-BWI and Orlando. San Francisco operations include two weekly flights May 18-June 1 and September 1-October 15 (Wednesdays and Saturdays), increasing to four from June through August (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). Flights are scheduled to arrive from Iceland at 6:30pm and depart from San Francisco at 11:30pm.

Icelandair’s nonstop flights from SFO connect through its hub in Reykjavik, Iceland, via a newly implemented bank of afternoon direct flights to Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Frequency will vary to some destinations, depending on days of operations.

The popularity of Iceland as a destination has been enhanced by the airline’s “Take-A-Break” program, which enables travelers to visit up to seven days at no additional airfare while en route between North America and Scandinavia, the UK and Continental Europe. Icelandair’s current summer route network includes Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm and Zurich.

Icelandair, the flag carrier of Iceland, has been crossing the North Atlantic since 1948, offering regularly scheduled flights for more than half a century. Founded in 1937, Icelandair is the only airline in existence today with such a long and distinguished record on the transatlantic route. Safety, convenient schedules, short flying times, on-time performance and customer service have been the hallmarks of Icelandair operations.

Icelandair is headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland. Its head office for the Americas is based in Columbia, Maryland. Please visit www.icelandair.com for additional information.