The Icelandic airline start-up Play has applied to the US traffic authority DOT to grant flight rights between Keflavik and destinations on the US east coast. The admission is due to take place in June 2022, although the carrier did not provide any details about the actual destinations.

The planned flights are to be carried out with aircraft of the type Airbus A321neo. At least that is how the DOT applied for. Play currently has three such aircraft in its fleet. The company announced a few months ago that it had no plans for widebodies. It is intended to serve the transatlantic destinations with Airbus A321neo and possibly A321LR / XLR. The fleet is expected to grow to around 2025 machines by 15.

Bumpy load on European routes

The European routes, which were added a few weeks ago, are currently not enjoying great loads. The machines, which have 192 seats, rarely have more than 60 passengers on board. Sometimes there are only a little over ten passengers. This can be attributed to two circumstances: On the one hand, Play is a newcomer and at the beginning, low occupancy rates are not the exception, but rather the rule. On the other hand, the various entry and quarantine regulations obviously also have an unfavorable effect on demand.

In any case, Play has reacted in the meantime and lowered the frequencies on many routes. For example, the destinations Berlin and Paris-Charles de Gaulle will be halved at least at the beginning of September 2021. Both destinations are only to be served twice a week for the time being. Similar measures can also be found on other routes.