Icelandair

Icelandair is Iceland's flag carrier, flying from a single hub at Keflavík just outside Reykjavík. It is a mid-sized airline built almost entirely around Iceland's mid-Atlantic position: most of its network funnels North American cities into Europe through Keflavík, and the free stopover programme lets you break the journey in Iceland for up to a week at no extra fare.

It sits outside the three big alliances, working instead through codeshare and interline deals (a reciprocal tie-up with WestJet was formalised in 2026). Flying Icelandair is best understood as a connection play rather than a point-to-point one. The fares are competitive, the network is built around the transfer, and the onboard product is narrowbody-focused rather than long-haul widebody, so it suits travellers who value the routing and the stopover over a flat bed.

The configurations we publish track Icelandair's shift to a narrowbody transatlantic fleet. The newest is the Airbus A321neo LR, the type now taking over the long thin routes, with a two-cabin Saga and Economy layout. Alongside it sit the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9, both two-cabin and doing the bulk of the shorter European and east-coast work.

We also publish the Boeing 757-200 and 767-300ER, the older pairing Icelandair has flown for decades and is now retiring as the A321LRs arrive. Both carry a small Saga cabin ahead of a large economy section. Rounding out the list is the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400, the all-economy turboprop used on regional and domestic-feeder hops. Across the jets the pattern is consistent: a compact front cabin and a deep economy section in 3-3.

Icelandair runs two cabins rather than three. Saga is the premium product: on the A321LR it is a 2-2 recliner cabin with a generous 42" pitch and large OLED touchscreens, comfortable and well-finished but a recliner rather than a lie-flat bed, which is fair given most sectors are five to eight hours. Saga on the 757 and 767 is the older equivalent, a step behind the new Airbus seats. Service is calm and Nordic in style rather than lavish.

Economy is a standard 3-3 across the jets. Seatback screens are not fitted fleet-wide, so on some aircraft the entertainment runs through your own device over the cabin wifi. There is a paid extra-legroom option near the front of economy. The Dash 8 Q400 is a simple single-class turboprop with no frills, which matches its short regional role.

In Saga, the front rows give the quietest ride and quickest exit; on the A321LR the 2-2 layout means no middle seats, so the choice is window against aisle rather than which neighbour you get. In economy, the bulkhead and exit rows carry the most legroom, with the usual trade-off that bulkhead seats have fixed armrests and no under-seat stowage, and some exit-row seats have reduced recline.

Check the published cabin layout before settling on a row near the back: seats by the rear galley and lavatories see more movement and queueing, and a window seat one or two rows shy of the wing can lose part of its view to the structure. On the Dash 8 Q400, the propellers sit level with the mid-cabin, so rows well forward or well aft of the wing are noticeably quieter. Where seatback screens are not fitted, a window seat and your own device beat the aisle for a long sector.