Icelandair has today announced two new international flight destinations for 2017, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. These two cities are the airline’s 17^th and 18^th gateways in North America and passengers will have an easy connection from all UK airports that Icelandair services.

The airline will start four weekly direct flights from Reykjavik (KEF) to Philadelphia (PHL) on May 30^th running until September 20^th, while Tampa Bay (TPA) will be a twice weekly all year destination starting from September 7^th 2017.

"Tampa Bay and Philadelphia will further strengthen Icelandair’s presence in the eastern United States by better serving our passengers with faster travel times to more than 25 destinations in Europe. Europeans will have an easier way to the sunny beaches of the Tampa Bay area and the historic city of Philadelphia, the fifth largest city in the United States. This is an exciting and significant moment for Icelandair and we look forward to welcoming both Philadelphia and Tampa Bay aboard in 2017," said Birkir Holm Gudnason, CEO of Icelandair.

Philadelphia is famed for great historical connections with both the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the United States Constitution (1787) ratified and signed there. The city is one of the largest in the US with over 7 million people and is located between New York and Washington.

Tampa Bay is located in Florida State adjacent to Mexico Bay. The city, with its 4.5 million residents, is well known for its tourism and lovely beaches in towns such as St. Petersburg, Clearwater Beach and Sarasota.