The carrier operated its final flight to North America, and we had the opportunity to be part of this rare AvGeek oddity.
Atlantic Airways’ final sunset on North American soil (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Atlantic Airways made headlines last year when it began the first-ever nonstop passenger flights to North America from its home country of the Faroe Islands. The seasonal route started in August 2023 and operated once a week with the westbound flight to North America occurring on Tuesdays and the eastbound flight to the Faroe Islands on Wednesdays. This was also one of the few daytime flights going eastbound from the United States to Europe.
The flights operated until mid-October 2023, but the airline announced that the route would be returning for the 2024 season for seven weeks from the beginning of September 2024 until mid-October 2024. On July 9, 2024, Aeroroutes reported that the airline shortened its New York service season from six weeks to just three with Sept. 17 being the last flight.
Just two weeks later, a Faroese news outlet reported the route to New York “flops” with the carrier’s CEO later confirming that the service would not be returning in 2025.
The curbside of Vágar Airport in the Faroe Islands (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
According to the airline’s CEO, Jóhanna á Bergi, the route never got enough demand. The route was originally supposed to start back in 2020 but got delayed due to the pandemic, although she is hopeful that it will resume at some point in the future. Given the rarity of this route, AirlineGeeks flew onboard the last flight.
I arrived at the Vágar airport in the Faroe Islands way earlier than needed, especially considering there only ended up being under 30 people on board this flight. The airline does offer online check-in for their flights and I did get a mobile boarding pass for the flight coming into the Faroe Islands, however, due to entry regulations in the United States, I was required to check in at the ticket counter with an agent and get a hard copy of the boarding pass so they could stamp it.
Checking in at the kiosk for my flight to Stewart (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
It was a little airport and not much was going on, with all of the ticket counters opening two hours before departure times, and the Atlantic agents ran every single flight with the check-in counters having the logos of every airline that flew to this airport: Atlantic Airways, Icelandair, SAS, and Widerøe. The same goes for the kiosks, all being interchangeable for the airlines that serve the airport.
The ticket counter area at Vágar Airport in the Faroe Islands (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
As this was a pretty empty flight, I decided not to select and pay for my seat ahead of time, and I got assigned a right-side window behind the wing, which was exactly what I wanted. Two hours before departure time is also when security opened, and as this flight was leaving the Schengen area we did have to have our passport stamped.
The area after security contained a large duty-free shop compared to the actual gate space, along with three gates. One of the gates was used for flights leaving the Schengen Zone and had a small booth for passport control, which after this flight is just the airline’s route to London.
The gate area at the only airport in the Faroe Islands (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
All 27 of us boarded the aircraft and got our passports stamped with plenty of time to spare, it was really neat to have the EU exit stamp from the Faroe Islands given the very limited number of flights that leave this country to places outside the region.
The gate with the passport control booth (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Boarding here is done on the ramp. The aircraft for the last flight between the Faroe Islands is an Airbus A320neo with the registration of OY-RCK and was delivered new to the airline in May of 2022. This aircraft carries the name of a famous Faroese individual: Ingálvur av Reyn, who is a celebrated painter in the Faroe Islands.
The aicraft for the airline’s last flight to North America: OY-RCK (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
If you look at the history of this flight between the Faroe Islands and Stewart, New York, you’ll notice that this tail number has always operated the flight, and that is no coincidence. Out of Atlantic Airways’ fleet of four Airbus A320s (two neos and two ceos), OY-RCK is the only aircraft in their fleet equipped with VHF radios which stands for ‘Very High Frequency.’
The airline’s A320neos are equipped with 174 physical passenger seats onboard, but had it been a completely booked flight they would need to restrict it to about 150 passengers. They haven’t had to restrict it, though, as over the course of the two years the route operated, the most full flight was about 60 people which was the inaugural back in August of 2023.
The cabin of Atlantic Airways’ Airbus A320neo (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
My seat for the flight over the Atlantic is 20F, a window seat on the right side of the aircraft just behind the wing.
My seat, 20F, for the flight to Stewart (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Just before pushing back the captain did mention that this was the last flight for Atlantic Airways to Stewart.
My view from 20F on Atlantic Airways’ A320neo (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
We did have to back taxi to the end of the runway for takeoff, which is normal at a lot of airports that are surrounded by challenging terrain.
Turning around on the runway after back taxiing (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
We took to the skies westward for this almost seven-hour flight to Stewart on time. It was a little cloudy when we took off but luckily I was able to see some of the terrain below.
Taking off westward, leaving the Faroe Islands (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
About 15 to 20 minutes after takeoff they brought around the pre-ordered meals for those that had ordered them, as well as the snack and drink cart, and every passenger was entitled to a free cup of coffee, water, or tea. You could also purchase snacks or candy onboard if you hadn’t ordered a meal or brought items with you. The pre-ordered meal I got was a NY-style open-faced sandwich, which had egg, shrimp, salad, pickled cucumber, carrots, and it came with a piece of cake. It appears the airline caters their meals from Hotel Vágar, which is located directly next to the airport.
My NY open-faced sandwich on board Atlantic Airways (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
After the meal, I connected to the aircraft’s internet, which was decent and it worked for the entire flight even when we went way outside of the European coverage zone. They offer a wide selection of movies and TV, an interactive flight map, as well as a survey link, along with a page that translates common phrases to Faroese as it is not one of the languages on Google Translate.
I settled in to watch movies and TV, along with the occasional glance outside of the window at the view below. The captain made a very nice announcement when we were going over Greenland and every single passenger moved to a seat on the right side of the aircraft so they could see the views of the completely clear country below.
Flying over the eastern coast of Greenland (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
For the rest of the flight, I just watched movies and looked out the window at the amazing views below us. At some point, I fell asleep too, and given there was so much room on the flight, I laid down across some seats to sleep.
The crew came around the cabin a few times offering a cup of water or tea to passengers.
The seats were comfortable, and at 5’4 I had a decent amount of room for my knees, and on the airline A320neos, they do offer a device holder at the back of the seat as well.
About an hour and a half or so before landing, they came around again with complimentary water and tea, as well as the second pre-ordered meal for those who got them ahead of time, whether it was on the app or their website before boarding. For the second pre-ordered meal I got a NY Tapas, which came with rye bread, butter, biscuits, jam, fruits, and salami.
The second pre-ordered meal on my Atlantic Airways flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
At this point in the day, the sun was slowly beginning to set, and I could see the it reflecting off of the bodies of water we passed below, like the Hudson River, the Mohawk River, and the Erie Canal.
Flying over eastern New York State (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
We touched down in Stewart/New York International Airport around 6:30 p.m. after 6 hours and 47 minutes of flying time. The airport was super quiet as this flight was the only one scheduled for the entire day.
Flying over the Hudson River (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
In Stewart, flights are boarded using the jetbridge for the outbound, but for the inbound, we deplaned onto the ramp as the customs center is on the ground floor of the terminal.
Deplaning onto the ramp in Stewart (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Given it is such a small airport customs took no time at all.
A photo from Atlantic Airways’ final arrival into North America (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
The Faroe Islands to Stewart flight was such a unique route for many reasons. The return flight to the Faroe Islands was also one of the few daytime flights from North America to Europe, given the crew stays overnight in Stewart. The final flight out of North America left the next day with a total of 11 passengers onboard.
The final Atlantic Airways flight to North America (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
For those that do want to visit the Faroe Islands and fly on Atlantic Airways, the airline still offers plenty of connections from east of the Faroe Islands as they fly to 10 destinations in mainland Europe, and for those coming from North America, they also fly to Reykjavik/Keflavik in Iceland so you don’t have to backtrack to get to the country. unique line to put on their personal route map.
The mentioned interview with the Atlantic Airways CEO will be out soon, but in the meantime, a video account of this flight can be found below.
Editor’s Note: Atlantic Airways provided AirlineGeeks with a seat on this flight, but this trip report is an objective portrayal of the events and is in no way swayed by that aspect.
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