Celebrating 80 years of international flights

This summer, we’re celebrating 80 years of international flights!

On July 11, 1945, the first official international passenger flight took off from Iceland. The Catalina flugbátur (‘flightboat’, or seaplane) flew a six-hour flight from Reykjavík to Largs Bay in Scotland (not far west of Glasgow), flying at a height of 7000ft.

Four crew and four passengers made that journey in 1945. The flight was captained by Jóhannes R. Snorrason; his copilot was Smári Karlsson, the flight engineer was Sigurður Ingólfsson, and the radio operator was Jóhann Gíslason. The passengers were primarily Icelandic merchants traveling to the UK in search of new goods to sell in Iceland. 

The following month, on August 22, 1945, a Catalina flew from Iceland to Largs, where it had a three-day stay due to weather conditions. It arrived in Copenhagen on August 25, and returned on the same route (with a brief stop in Largs) on August 27.

A lot has changed in air travel since those early journeys in 1945 (nowadays you can fly with us between Iceland and Scotland in under 2.5 hours – to Glasgow, and to Edinburgh from September 12). But our role of connecting Iceland with the world is unchanged. Our hub and home is an island in the middle of the North Atlantic, and aviation is fundamental in taking Iceland to the world, and bringing the world to us.

Want to learn more about Icelandair's history? Start here: The history of Icelandair.