Passenger Increase Tied to Point-to-Point Success
PLAY carried 128,119 passengers in April 2025, compared to 122,217 passengers in April 2024. This represents a 5% increase in passenger numbers year-over-year. This growth reflects continued demand in PLAY’s core markets and a well-aligned route network for the early summer season.
The load factor in April 2025 was 82.6%, compared to 85.1% in April 2024. This change is largely due to shift toward more leisure-oriented destinations, which historically see lower load factors due to reduced VIA feed but typically deliver higher yields. The network now includes more direct flights to Southern Europe, where most passengers fly point-to-point.
The share of passengers traveling from Iceland increased to 36.9% in April 2025, up from 30.0% the year before. Similarly, the share of passengers traveling to Iceland rose to 31.8%, up from 27.0%. The VIA traffic share decreased to 31.3%, compared to 43.0% in April 2024. This shift reflects PLAY’s evolving focus toward serving the important inbound and growing outbound tourism markets.
PLAY delivered strong operational performance in April, with 92.7% of flights arriving on time, compared to 89.4% in April 2024. This result highlights the airline’s ongoing emphasis on schedule reliability and delivering excellent services to passengers.
Forward Load Factor for the upcoming summer months continues to trend above 2024 levels, as does unit revenue. Notably, demand to and from Iceland is showing especially strong momentum. With the recent launch of flights to Antalya, Turkey, and Faro, Portugal, PLAY expects to further strengthen its position in the leisure market over the summer season.
Einar Örn Ólafsson, CEO of PLAY:
“Our performance in April shows that our strategy is proving effective. We’re seeing solid demand across all our markets, and the shift toward leisure destinations is already delivering results. While these routes typically come with slightly lower load factors, they bring higher yields and greater profitability. With a strong on-time performance and encouraging forward bookings, we’re well positioned for a successful summer. I want to thank all our coworkers for their dedication and hard work in making this strong performance possible.”
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