Icelandair has begun flying its first Airbus aircraft, and we were onboard the first revenue flight.
Icelandair’s first and only Airbus aircraft in Stockholm (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Iceland’s flag carrier, now in its 87th year, has grown exponentially, especially over the last ten years. The airline’s international medium-haul fleet has consisted completely of Boeing aircraft, with the Boeing 757 being the backbone of the carrier for a long time, and then the Boeing 737 MAX, along with the small sub-fleet of three Boeing 767-300s.
The airline recently retired the 757-300 from its fleet, which are going on a wet lease to Fly Khiva, a Uzbekistan airline that will launch its first-ever passenger flights with Icelandair’s former aircraft.
Icelandair Boeing 757 wearing the “Vatnajökull” livery (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
But, with the Boeing 757 starting to show its age, the airline needed a new alternative to the aircraft, Icelandair decided to venture into the Airbus sector. While this is the first Airbus aircraft in the Icelandair livery, it isn’t the first time they’ve flown Airbus jets.
Back in the summer of 2019, the airline leased a single Airbus A319 from GetJet for its busy summer schedule, and it was only for the month of August.
Now, with its very own Airbus aircraft, TF-IAA, an Airbus A321LR, which was delivered to the airline on December 3, 2024, made its first-ever scheduled passenger flight on the morning of December 10, from its main hub at Reykjavik/Keflavik to Stockholm in Sweden.
Icelandair’s first Airbus aircraft, TF-IAA (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
I arrived in Iceland on a redeye flight from the East Coast of the United States on the morning of the flight. After customs, the gate was easy to find as it was the first one when you came up from getting passports stamped, and the celebrations had already started.
At the gate, a screen alternated between Icelandic and English that welcomed the first Airbus aircraft to the airline’s fleet.
A screen in Icelandic celebrating the airline’s first Airbus airplane (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
There was also a table with macaroons and champagne for all passengers, as well as juice for those who didn’t want champagne. They didn’t make any special announcements during the boarding process or at the gate.
The champagne and macaroon table at the gate (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Before boarding started there was also a picture with all of the crew members of this inaugural flight up at the gate.
The crew for the Inaugural Icelandair Airbus flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
I managed to get on right at the beginning of the boarding process so I could get a quick walk-through of the cabin, and I saw the brand new seats up in the Saga cabin, as well as the extra legroom seats, and then of course the economy cabin. It was also helpful getting a walk-through to see the configuration, considering there was a row towards the back of the airplane that was missing a window, in this case, row 25.
Saga class on the airline’s new A321 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
The picture below shows the airline’s economy cabin, with the extra legroom seats with grey headrests and the normal seats with pink headrests.
Icelandair’s economy cabin on their Airbus A321 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
I was sitting in the airline’s Saga cabin, and waiting for me at my seat was a pillow and a blanket along with Icelandic water. The seat was definitely different than the Saga seats on their other aircraft, and even had wings near the head so people could lean on them for sleeping. There was also a leg rest which is a new addition.
The Saga class seats on Icelandair’s A321s (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
One of the first things you notice when you sit in the seats is the much bigger IFE screen, which is a first for any airline in the world.
The noticeably larger IFE on Icelandair’s A321 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
There was so much excitement during the boarding process, including some Icelandair executives, Panasonic employees, and media as well. They made a handful of announcements onboard about what this new Airbus aircraft meant for the airline, and what a historic event this was for the future of the carrier. We pushed back from the gate and took to the skies around eight in the morning, and being that it was December in Iceland, it was still completely dark out.
Taking off from Reykjavik/Keflavik on the inaugural A321 flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Once we got in the sky, they brought champagne and macaroons for everyone onboard, not only those in Saga class, because it was a special flight. They also made more special announcements when we got into the air, including talking about how important this is in the airline’s history.
Regarding the new IFE system, in Saga, it’s 16 inches, and in Economy, it’s 13 inches. Icelandair’s A321 is the first airline, and aircraft in the world to have ‘Astrova,’ which is a new IFE system by Panasonic Avionics.
Panasonic’s new Astrova system on Icelandair’s A321 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
The new system also had a Bluetooth feature so you could pair your wireless headphones to the screen. On the bottom of the screen was the power outlet, FA call button, a button to turn on lights above your seat, and volume. On the left side were two headphone ports, and two USB-C ports as well.
The screen was super in-depth and you could look at Icelandair’s history, movies, TV, and probably the most detailed inflight map I’ve ever seen. If you looked closely at the map, you could even see the water moving. You could tap on cities and learn more facts and information about them, and it even points out landmarks like mountains.
The moving map on the new IFE system (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
You could also look out the ‘windows’ and the ‘cockpit’ on the screen as well, but perhaps the most fun aspect was the heads-up display.
The HUD on the IFE screen (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
About an hour after takeoff, the sun finally started coming up and you could see the wonderful sharklet with the Icelandair logo on it.
The sun starting to come up on Icelandair’s inaugural A321 flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
I ordered the hot option, which came with chicken sausage, potatoes, eggs, fruit/vegetable/cheese bowl, some bread, and rice pudding for dessert. The meal was really good and even had more macaroons afterward for an additional treat.
The hot meal option on board Icelandair’s Saga class (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
As the flight went on I continued to look at all of the cool features of the seats. Other hidden features included a coat hook on the back of the seats in Saga, a phone/small device holder on the tray table, a power outlet near your waist, and a third headphone jack on the front of the seat.
Coat hook on the back of the Saga seats (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
The sun continued to rise, although not completely as we were pretty far north in December, and I had some wonderful views of the mountains in the Scandinavian region as we flew over.
Flying over Norway on an Icelandair A321 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
The crew regularly came through the cabin throughout the flight to see if anyone wanted more water or other drinks. I continued to enjoy not only the shiny new IFE system but also the spectacular views beneath.
Flying over Scandinavia (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
As the flight was under 2.5 hours long, it didn’t take long for us to descend into Stockholm. Just before landing, they brought a special gift to all passengers in Saga class; a keychain that said Airbus A321, and on the flipside it had the airline’s logo.
The keychain given to passengers for the special flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Also, during our final descent, they had bright colorful lights shown throughout the cabin that were meant to mimic the northern lights. The aircraft did not yet have WiFi when I took this flight as it was still troubleshooting, but when I rode the same aircraft back to Iceland, two days later it did work.
Colorful cabin lights just before landing (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
We landed in Stockholm just after 11:30 a.m. following two hours and 28 minutes of flying time from Reykjavik/Keflavik.
Just before landing in Stockholm (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
The airline currently only has a single Airbus aircraft, TF-IAA, but more of them will be delivered in the coming months with the second one currently in the Icelandair livery at the Airbus factory in Hamburg.
Currently, Icelandair operates one A321 aircraft, flying from its home in Iceland to Stockholm and Copenhagen. But as more aircraft are delivered this winter and into the busy summer peak season, it will begin operating more routes with the aircraft type.
A video account of this trip report can be found below:
Editor’s Note: Icelandair 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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