September 15, 2020 / Icelandic carrier Icelandair (FI) announced it is about to join the Worldwide by easyjet (U2) connections service. The partnership is expected to become operational “in the coming weeks” at two of easyjet’s main European hubs: Paris (CDG) and Amsterdam (AMS) and will allow customers to book tickets through the easyjet website (www.easyjet.com) for connecting flights with Icelandair to destinations in Europe and North America.
With almost all demand on transatlantic routes disappeared because of the Covid pandemic and the consequential travel bans issued by the European Union and the the US, Icelandair is living the most difficult phase of its life, having the core of its operations in the Europe to USA (and vice-versa) routes via its Keflavik (KEF) hub. So, the Worldwide deal is a way to maximize its access to European traffic.
“We are really pleased to welcome Icelandair as an Easyjet Worldwide partner airline. Tens of millions of connecting passengers travel each year with journeys which begin or end in Europe. We are confident this addition to Worldwide will be very popular with our customers who are looking for a seamless way to connect between Europe and North America” commented easyjet’s CEO Johan Lundgren.
Easyjet launched Worldwide in 2017 with Norwegian (D8) and Westjet (WS) as initial partners and has since expanded the service to 17 airlines including Corsair (SS), La Compagnie (B0), Loganair (LN), Singapore Airlines (SQ) and its low-cost arm Scoot (TR), Air Transat (TS), Virgin Atlantic (VS), Emirates (EK), Cathay Pacific (CX) and Etihad Airways (EY). The Worldwide programme (see article) is active at several of easyjet’s European hubs including London Gatwick (LGW), Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam Schipol (AMS) and Milan Malpensa (MXP).