PLAY was founded in November 2019, and only took flight on its inaugural service in June 2021. As the airline nears a half-decade of service, its new CEO, Einar Örn Ólafsson, promises its "young, energetic and fresh" spirit is here to stay
On the back of a record load factor last month, the CEO, who was instated in March of this year, has noted that he intends to do things "slightly differently," while vowing to maintain the "young, energetic and fresh" spirit that saw it make a disruptive arrival on the scene almost five years ago.
As chairman for three years before taking on the role of CEO, Einar explained that he'd been "pretty familiar with the company, the key management team and so forth... [but] CEO is quite a different role from chairman. I'm much more involved in the day-to-day things and the nitty-gritty of it. There are always things that surprise me both positively and negatively and, of course, there are things I want to put my own fingerprints on.
"Despite that, I'm not here to make the company take a U-turn. We will continue to be young, energetic and fresh; hence the uniform of loose-fitting casual wear and sneakers of our cabin crew, who want to feel comfortable in their jobs but remain committed to being as helpful and attentive as they might be otherwise."
PLAY was one of the first airlines to ditch the traditional formalities of cabin crew uniforms when the casual white trainers and unbuttoned suits with branded t-shirts (designed by Iceland duo Gunni Hilmars and Kolla) were unveiled in 2021. Dutch flag carrier KLM, Australia's Bonza and Ukraine's SkyUp have all since followed suit with similarly casual approaches.
"We want to continue to be light, happy and young. Our service and approach embodies that."
After a strong half-decade, what is next for PLAY Airlines?
PLAY could quite easily continue to celebrate its arrival on the scene and, perhaps, rest on its disruptive and youthful laurels. With Einar at the helm, however, the airline has committed to an ambitious and aggressive trajectory.
"Five, six years down the line, we want to have at least doubled our fleet size to 20+ aircraft. That would have its benefits in terms of serving our existing customer base better and enabling a more extensive network.
"We would be happy there, but we have to look at how we can grow beyond that. Either we will have to do something different from what we are doing now, whether that means a different base than Keflavik, services that don't involve Iceland, or start stepping on some toes if we want to grow beyond that solely in the North Atlantic and Icelandic market."
"...we will have to... start stepping on some toes if we want to grow beyond [doubling or tripling] in the North Atlantic or Icelandic market."
The UK market: always growing
Einar noted a number of relationships with UK tour operators who sell through the trade, before explaining, "The UK market to Iceland is a little bit different to most markets.
"Brits tend to come during the winter, particularly in October and February. Tour operators are really significant in fuelling that demand, and we have been fortunate enough to work with many of them while building the number and strength of relationships as we go."
"...we have been fortunate enough to work with many [UK tour operators] while building the number and strength of relationships as we go."
This week alone, the airline strengthened its trade ties by partnering with Sabre. PLAY services to as many as 40 destinations (bolstered by recent network expansions to Toronto and Washington D.C. 
and the promise of flights to Aalborg in summer 2025) are now bookable via Sabre's GDS.
"In this, our fourth summer of operation, we are proud to still be growing and maintaining those relationships in the market steadily, year-by-year."
Einar Örn Ólafsson is the CEO of PLAY Airlines.
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