Delta to Restart Iceland Flights as Vaccination Push Opens Doors

(Bloomberg) -- Delta Air Lines Inc. is adding a new daily flight to Iceland from the U.S. and resuming two other routes after the Nordic island nation began welcoming any visitors fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Daily Boston-Keflavik service will begin May 20, while flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International airport will restart on May 1, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 27, Delta said in a statement Friday.

The additions are a step forward for Delta as it seeks to rebuild international demand that has been decimated across the industry during the pandemic, and it expands options for consumers anxious to travel after a year spent close to home.

Iceland is moving ahead of the European Union in lifting travel restrictions, “making it the first leisure destination in Europe easily accessible to U.S. travelers since the pandemic began,” Delta said. Passengers who show proof of vaccinations or having had the disease won’t be subject to testing or quarantine, Iceland has said. Travelers returning to the U.S. will have to show a negative Covid-19 test result.

Greece, Cyprus and a few other tourism-dependent EU members also have set plans to reopen to visitors, putting pressure on the bloc to speed up its reopening program and maintain unity within the Schengen area of 26 countries, which function as a single jurisdiction for international travel purposes. Iceland is a Schengen member but not an EU state.

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