DALLAS — These are news-filled days for PLAY Airlines (OG) has announced it will fly to Valencia Airport (VLC) twice a week and that it has made a major deal with Sabre.
Although the news comes a few days apart, these are two important announcements for the Icelandic-based transatlantic low-cost carrier (LCC).
Valencia Twice a Week
The news most interesting to travelers is the opening of the new route to Valencia. From May 24, 2025, flying between VLC and Keflavik (KEF) will be possible twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday.
PLAY's presence in Spain is by no means new, as the airline already serves eight cities, including Madrid (MAD), Barcelona (BCN), Fuerteventura (FUE), Alicante (ALC), GranCanaria (LPA), Mallorca (PMI), Tenerife (TFN), and Malaga (AGP).
Also of interest is the announcement of a new KEF-Port (OPO) route that will operate from April 12, 2025, and will be available until October 29, 2025; biweekly flights will be operated every Wednesday and Saturday.
The Sabre Deal
PLAY has recently entered into a multi-year distribution agreement with leading travel-related IT company Sabre to realize its long-term strategic expansion plan.
Entering into a partnership with Sabre is a very important opportunity for the Reykjavík-based airline as it allows it to join the GDS and thus be available to all travel agencies using the Global Distribution System.
This is a showcase on the world market for a low-cost airline operating in the transatlantic market: an interesting and forward-looking prospect, especially for gaining visibility and notoriety in the world of organized travel.
PLAY Airlines
PLAY Airlines was founded in 2019, establishing its general headquarters in Keflavik (KEF). The airline's first flight is the Keflavik (KEF)-London Stanstead (STN) connection, operated with an A321neo.
The airline enters the low-cost transatlantic travel market to connect the European continent with North America and Canada. It follows a hub-and-spoke model and identifies KEF, the airline's home base, as its hub.
To date, the airline serves about 40 destinations between Europe and America using a fleet of 10 aircraft, A320 and A321neo types, whose average age is 4.2 years.
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Exploring Airline History Volume I
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David H. Stringer, the History Editor for AIRWAYS Magazine, has chronicled the story of the commercial aviation industry with his airline history articles that have appeared in AIRWAYS over two decades. Here, for the first time, is a compilation of those articles.
Subjects A through C are presented in this first of three volumes. Covering topics such as the airlines of Alaska at the time of statehood and Canada's regional airlines of the 1960s, the individual histories of such carriers as Allegheny, American, Braniff, and Continental are also included in Volume One. Get your copy today!
January 2025
