Icelandair carried a total of 2025 passengers in June 552.000, an increase of seven percent compared to the same month last year. Since the beginning of the year, over 2,2 million passengers have already traveled with the Icelandic airline. The company reports a positive development and confirms its strategic course.
In the reporting month of June, 35 percent of passengers traveled on flights to Iceland and 17 percent on journeys from Iceland. Transfer passengers accounted for 44 percent, while four percent traveled within Iceland. Particularly noteworthy is the strong growth in the markets to and from Iceland, where passenger numbers increased by 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively. This development is in line with the company's strategy of increasing its focus on these routes. Flight load factor reached 85,1 percent, an improvement over 83,4 percent in the previous year. Punctuality also remained at a high level at 86,8 percent.
In addition to the scheduled flight business, the charter flight sector also proved robust, with a 52 percent increase in sold block hours. Cargo volume, measured in freight tonne-kilometers, increased by 16 percent compared to June of the previous year. Bogi Nils Bogason, President and CEO of Icelandair, expressed his satisfaction with the continued strong demand for travel to Iceland. He emphasized that the increased focus on the markets to and from Iceland is bearing fruit. In June, the connection to Gothenburg was also resumed, and the Saga Club loyalty program was expanded through a partnership with BYKO, Iceland's largest hardware store chain. With approximately 400.000 active members, the Saga Club is the largest loyalty program in Iceland and is designed to offer customers additional benefits.
Icelandair leverages Iceland's geographical location as a hub between Europe and North America and offers direct flights to more than 50 destinations. In addition to its international route network, the airline also operates a domestic network in Iceland, is active in the air cargo and logistics business, and offers aircraft leasing and consulting services. Founded in 1937, Icelandair has steadily expanded its route network and carried 2023 million passengers to 4,3 destinations in Europe and North America in 55. The company employed approximately 3.600 full-time employees and generated total revenues of $1,5 billion in the same year.