Icelandic carrier PLAY has inaugurated its first Canada route: from Keflavik to Hamilton for Greater Toronto. Less expensive and fewer congested to serve than Toronto Pearson, and undoubtedly with great incentives, Hamilton is ~52 miles (83 km) from Toronto. Nevertheless, it’s closer to Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and a few pretty sizable Ontario cities. Lower fares and yields will offset the lower costs, while Europeans can be less aware of Hamilton.
PLAY to Hamilton
On June twenty second, PLAY took off to Hamilton, just 2,635 miles (4,241 km) from Keflavik. While it obviously has no head-to-head competition, it competes not directly with as much as triple every day peak summer Pearson flights: Icelandair’s double every day and Air Canada’s 4 weekly.
The inaugural used TF-PPE, a 180-seat Airbus A320neo. In response to Flightradar24, the 0.7-year-old aircraft, which PLAY received last December, took 5h 27m to Hamilton and 5h 5m back.
Image: Flightradar24.
Only the A320neo is scheduled when writing, nevertheless it could possibly be switched to the A321neo if demand warrants it. Operating every day, the route’s schedule is as follows, with all times local:
- Keflavik to Hamilton: OG201, 15:10-17:30 (6h 20m block time)
- Hamilton to Keflavik: OG202, 18:50-04:35+1 (5h 45m)
Photo: PLAY.
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It’s PLAY’s fifth North America route
Hamilton’s launch got here almost 14 months after PLAY’s first North America route took off. It was to Baltimore on April twentieth, 2022, followed by Boston on May eleventh, and Stewart for Greater NYC on June ninth. Washington Dulles joined its network on April twenty sixth, 2023. Orlando was scheduled but pulled, while no other destination has been revealed as of June twenty third.
(En path to Hamilton.) Photo: PLAY.
Like Hamilton, all routes are every day and are timed as follows. They’re so well coordinated to enable two-way connectivity across wider Europe. For instance, on June twenty second, TF-PPE had a scheduled arrival time from Brussels at 13:45 before leaving for Canada at 15:10. Returning on the planned 04:35, its next flight was to Athens at 06:00.
Keflavik to… |
Keflavik departure times |
Keflavik from… |
Keflavik arrival times |
---|---|---|---|
Dulles |
15:00 |
Hamilton |
04:35 |
Baltimore |
15:05 |
Boston |
04:40 |
Hamilton |
15:10 |
Stewart |
04:40 |
Boston |
15:20 |
Baltimore |
04:50 |
Stewart |
15:40 |
Dulles |
04:55 |
Hamilton regains Europe flights
Between 2007 and 2009, long-defunct Flyglobespan seems to have had 12 European routes from Hamilton: Belfast, Birmingham, Doncaster (now shut), Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle, and Shannon. It used 737-800s, 757-200s (pictured), and 767-300ERs.