On 2nd May, Icelandair inaugurated its first flight from the Toronto Pearson International Airport. According to reports on Marketwire, the airline now offers five weekly flights from Canada across the North Atlantic.
The new flights mark the first to take advantage of the Open Skies agreement signed recently between the Canadian government and Iceland.
The inaugural flight was attended by several dignitaries including the Honourable Vic Toews, President of the Treasury Board, Dr. Kuldip Kular, M.P.P. for Ontario, and Markus Orn Antonsson, the Icelandic Ambassador to Canada.
A special ceremony took place at Terminal One of the airport involving cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a certain amount of cake.
Icelandair already operates flights to Halifax; however, Toronto is Canada’s main transportation hub. The new flights will offer the airline the chance to expand offerings by using Toronto as a gateway to other regions in Canada.
Lloyd McCoomb, President and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, says, “The GTAA is pleased to welcome Icelandair to Toronto. A new airline offers choice for the passengers that depend on Toronto Pearson, and the fact that Icelandair offers a unique service for connections to Europe is very beneficial.”
Icelandair flies not only from Toronto to Iceland but from Boston, New York (JFK), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orlando Sanford and Halifax. The airline offers connections from North America to over 20 destinations in Europe through Iceland.
I know this is now old news but I wonder how well the first season was for the Toronto stop. Speaking as a regular joe with little money I was shocked at the price difference between here and flying out of JFK or Boston.
I know this is a problem with Pearson and their insane pricing but for me and nearly everyone I know it is cheaper to drive to Buffalo, take a flight to NYC and fly from there. Sure I’d prefer to fly direct from YYZ but the price has to come down by a great deal before that will happen.
Or perhaps the U.S. will make an already stressful experience of flying domestic so intolerable that we’ll once again pay the crazy prices of flying from here. Neither is in the best interests of the consumer. I’ll get back to Iceland but it isn’t an easy arrangement, luckily for FI I’m determined.