Culture

We celebrate and fly with Pride

Date

12. Aug 202612. Aug 26

Reading time

6 min

Iceland is a country that celebrates diversity and equality with enthusiasm throughout the year, but especially during early August, when Reykjavík Pride is held. The rainbow flags are out and proud, decorating various businesses and institutions across the country. It’s a clear sign: LGBTQ+ Pride is here!

At Icelandair, we’re proud to foster and promote the inclusive spirit of Iceland, with an emphasis on equality, diversity, and non-discrimination.

We’re proud to celebrate Pride, and to fly with Pride.

Inclusive Iceland

Every year, many families, businesses, organizations, artists, and politicians take part in the Pride festivities and express their support and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community. From an international perspective, Iceland has a prominent role in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, and that’s widely felt across the country.

We’re proud to be part of a community that values and supports equality every day of the year. We’re happy to partner with Reykjavík Pride to transport special guests to the event. We’re also pleased to partner with Samtökin ’78, the National Queer Association of Iceland, whose work centers around the fight for equal rights for queer people in Iceland.

A land of rainbows

Rainbows are everywhere here in Iceland. Whether it’s a sculpture outside Keflavík airport, a street permanently painted in rainbow colors in a remote fjord town or in the capital, or even misty rainbows seen in the Icelandic landscapes, you’ll find rainbows wherever you look, all sending a message of equality and acceptance.

A few LGBTQ+ Iceland facts

As an open and inclusive country, these are some of the milestones reached in Iceland on the path to equality:

1996: Same-sex couples are legally allowed to register as living together.

2006: Icelandic law gives equal access to adoption and IVF; adopting a partner’s child has been legal since 2000.

2010: Same-sex marriages are legalized. It’s worth noting that the prime minister at the time, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, and her wife Jónína Leósdóttir were among the first same-sex couples to be married in Iceland.

2019: A law simplifies the process for trans people to obtain the needed medical resources plus adds a third gender option – X – to the National Registry.

A display inside Hallgrímskirkja church during Pride week.

Travel resources

If you’re looking for more information on LGBTQ+ news or travel tips in Iceland, check out these helpful resources:

Samtökin ’78 – the National Queer Association of Iceland

Gay Iceland – LGBTQ+ guide to Iceland

GayIce – LGBTQ+ news from Iceland

Reykjavík Pride

Every August, Reykjavík Pride takes over the capital for one week with a fabulous event program, ranging from educational lectures and discussions to dedicated pool parties, pub crawls, and karaoke. Past events have included drag bingo, bake-offs, movie nights, queer-themed history and literary walks, harbor cruises, comedy shows, intimate concerts, and so much more.

The official Pride event days reach their climax with the main Pride Parade at 2pm on the final Saturday, leaving from the landmark Hallgrímskirkja church in downtown Reykjavík. Once the Parade is done, festivities move to an outdoor concert in nearby Hljómskálagarður park.

With nearly one-third of the Icelandic population attending or participating in Pride celebrations, it’s become one of the most popular events in Iceland. And while Reykjavík Pride itself may only last a week, as one of the world’s most LGBTQ+-friendly countries, Iceland celebrates diversity and inclusion the whole year round.

There was a big, joyful crowd and lots of sunshine for Reykjavík’s annual Pride Parade in August 2023. We partnered with the iconic Páll Óskar to create a parade float – check out the gorgeous results, and get a taste of summer on the streets of our welcoming city in this video.

Icelandair’s Pride Flights

The Icelandair staff is a large and diverse group of people – and we wouldn’t want it any other way! To celebrate Pride in Iceland, every year we aim to fly a Pride Flight during Reykjavík’s Pride week.

The cabin crew and pilots on our Pride Flights are all proud members or allies of the LGBTQ+ community. The service on board is themed accordingly – we serve treats, rainbows, and a fun and festive mood.

Pride Flight 2026

In 2026, our Pride Flight took to the skies between Keflavík and Copenhagen on August 6.

Pride Flight 2025

In 2025, our Pride Flight connected Keflavík and Amsterdam on August 5. On the same day, we celebrated on board a domestic flight between Reykjavík and Akureyri, also with cupcakes and treats for passengers.

Treats on board our domestic flight, 2025.

Pride Flight 2024

In 2024, we celebrated the beginning of Pride week with our Pride Flight between Keflavík and Copenhagen on August 6.

The year marked the 25th anniversary of Reykjavík Pride, so we felt the occasion deserved a little extra sparkle. Aboard the flight was a crew of LGBTQ+ community members and allies, including Miss Agatha P, a bona fide cabin crew member who brought their fabulous drag alter-ego along for the rainbow-fueled ride.

Crew on our 2024 flight, including Miss Agatha P.

Previous Pride Flights

In 2023, on August 9 we marked our continuous support of equality with Pride Flight FI216 between Keflavík and Copenhagen.

In 2022, on August 4 we flew Pride Flight FI318 between Keflavík and Oslo, and FI319 between Oslo and Keflavík.

In 2021, on August 4 our Pride Flight FI528/529 traveled between Keflavík and Berlin.

In 2020, there was no Pride Flight due to COVID-19.

In 2019, we celebrated Reykjavík Pride turning 20 with a Pride Flight between Keflavík and Philadelphia.

Watch our crew as they prepare for our Pride Flight on August 9, 2023.

The colorful spirit of Pride in Iceland

To honor the rainbow celebrations, we want to do our part to help amplify queer voices in Iceland and beyond.

We met with a diverse group of people and spoke with them about the history of Pride in Iceland, the state of queer rights today, and the interplay between the spirit of Iceland and the spirit of Pride.

The result is ‘The colorful spirit of Iceland’. Watch the video and hear the stories of Iceland’s LGBTQ+ community.

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Many crew images and 2023 video by Egill Árni Jóhannesson.

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We celebrate and fly with Pride

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