PLAY Axes Remaining U.S. Routes

Iceland-based carrier PLAY has announced that it is ending service to its last three scheduled destinations in the United States.

PLAY A321neo
A PLAY Airlines A321neo (Photo: Shutterstock | Pavel1964)
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Iceland-based carrier PLAY is completely halting all service to North America by October 2025, having already ended its Canadian flights in April 2025.
  • This strategic shift involves exiting the "less successful" North American market to focus on increasing routes to "sunny destinations" from Iceland and reducing flights to Northern European cities.
  • PLAY will also consolidate its operations by dropping its Icelandic Air Operating Certificate (AOC) in favor of its Maltese AOC and drastically shrinking its fleet to only four Airbus A320neos, leasing out the remaining six.
See a mistake? Contact us.

Iceland-based carrier PLAY has announced that it is halting service to its last three scheduled destinations in the United States: Baltimore, Boston, and Stewart, New York, which will bring an end to the airline’s flights on the North American continent come October 2025.

Back in April 2025, the airline ended its last flights to Canada, which operated via Hamilton Airport three times a week. During that same time, it also reduced service to Stewart and completely cut flights to Washington Dulles.

The passenger cabin of PLAY’s Airbus A320neo (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)

The carrier also operated its last scheduled flight with its larger Airbus A321neo, which was the first aircraft type introduced into its fleet.

More Cuts Planned

Along with the complete exit away from the North American market, which the company has said is “less successful,” it also plans on having fewer cities in Northern Europe, while also increasing routes to sunny destinations from Iceland. PLAY will also drop its Icelandic Air Operating Certificate (AOC) and keep its AOC from Malta.

As far as its fleet, now with only 10 A320neos, PLAY doesn’t plan on keeping all of those, with a plan to only utlize four of them, and the remaining six will be leased to other airlines.

While a lot is happening from a passenger perspective, the airline says not much will change as crews will still be based in Iceland.

Joey Gerardi

Joey has always been interested in planes for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself, the first thing he did with his driver's license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. He graduated from Western Michigan University in 2022 with a B.S. in Aviation Management & Operations and a Minor in Business, and currently works for a major airline in his hometown.
Sign-up for newsletters & special offers!

Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox

SUBSCRIBE

Uh-oh! It looks like you're using an ad blocker.

Our website relies on ads to provide free content and sustain our operations. By turning off your ad blocker, you help support us and ensure we can continue offering valuable content without any cost to you.

We truly appreciate your understanding and support. Thank you for considering disabling your ad blocker for this website