Iceland strips Alyaksandr Mashenski of honorary consulship

Iceland has relieved businessman Alyaksandr Mashenski from his duties as honorary consul. The notification was sent to the Belarusian authorities on June 24, 2025, according to Reform.news, which cites the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs....

Icelandair recruits Play founder as it rejigs operations roles

Icelandair is rejigging its structure of operational roles, and has recruited one of the founders of Icelandic budget carrier Play, Arnar Mar Magnusson. Icelandair is discontinuing the role of chief operating officer, following the retirement of...

Iceland-Based Budget Airline Shuts Down, Cancels All Flights

In a single announcement, ultra-low-cost airline Play revealed that it would be shutting its doors and cancelling all future flights. This leaves paying customers, some already in their destinations, scrambling for last-second tickets. Until now,...

Did You Know That Iceland Has Nearly One Sheep per Person?

A COUPLE OF years ago, my son and I were in Iceland walking through the Fljótsdalshreppur valley toward the Hengifoss waterfall. Roughly halfway through our walk, I had a welcome distraction from wondering how to pronounce Fljótsdalshreppur when...

Icelandic PLAY Airlines ceases operations, pulls out of BWI

Iceland’s PLAY Airlines ceased operations on Sunday, ending its service at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where it had offered flights to Reykjavik. “Fly PLAY hf. has ceased operations, and all flights have been...

Part 2 of my Iceland travelogue: Finally spotted Auroras!

BHPian DCIT_Prabodh recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Part 2 of the travelogue Day 4: Snaefellsness, North-(Slightly)West Iceland and Northern Lights Today's plan was on this line: a) Arnarstapi to Hellnar Hike: It was extremely windy...

Laxness disappearing from Icelandic schools

Seventy years after Halldór Laxness received the Nobel Prize in Literature and ninety years after the publication of Independent People, the Icelandic author’s works appear to be rapidly vanishing from high school reading lists. Fewer than...

Exploring Iceland by sea on Norwegian Prima’s Northern Europe cruise

FROM SINGAPORE TO THE ARCTIC — JET LAG, FJORDS, AND HIGH HOPES Our odyssey began with a 15-hour marathon flight from steamy Singapore to Reykjavik via Copenhagen — a route that makes you appreciate the invention of the trouser press and question...

The Spa Hotel at Iceland’s Iconic Blue Lagoon Can Be the Ultimate Solo Retreat

A hotel receptionist, Nikos, led me to The Retreat Spa, tucked discreetly behind a large, sliding black door. As soon as the door slid open, I caught sight of steam curling up from the lagoon outside and hotel guests bobbing around the milky...

Candlewood Suites comes to Iceland

Happy Thursday, readers! Let’s talk about some exciting news from IHG Hotels & Resorts—they’re making their big debut in Iceland with the launch of their midscale long-stay brand, Candlewood Suites. This new hotel property will be located in...

Four land-based fish farms in Iceland partner on managing aquaculture waste streams

Four separate land-based fish farms in Iceland – First Water, Laxey, Samherji Fishfarming, and Thor Salmon – have signed a declaration of intent to work together to responsibly and sustainably manage aquaculture waste streams. The companies, along...

Iceland's PLAY game overs with bankruptcy filing

PLAY (Iceland) (OG, Reykjavik Keflavik) has filed for bankruptcy at Reykjavík District Court, shortly after suddenly halting its flight operations on September 29, 2025. Innherji, a local business news website, reported that bondholders have been...

This Washington-Based Company Could be a No-Brainer Buy for Long-Term Investors

This retail success story has grown from a Washington state exclusive into a global powerhouse. The last five years haven't been that stellar for a lot of Washington-based companies. Amazon, Boeing, and Starbucks have all lagged the S&P 500 by...

Beethoven and Banjos 2025 brings Icelandic soundscapes to the Northwoods

The annual Beethoven and Banjos festival returns this fall with a fresh cross-genre collaboration celebrating Icelandic music. Presented by the Northwoods Music Collaborative, the 2025 edition features guest artists Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir on cello...

Laufey was an ‘odd fish’ in native Iceland. Now she’s a jazz-pop star

For years, singer and musician Laufey knew she wanted to be a performer but struggled to find an audience. The child of an Icelandic father and a Chinese immigrant mother, Laufey sometimes felt out of place in Iceland. She tried out for local...

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s home is named after the Irish and Iceland’s Irish and Columban roots go way back

Heimir Hallgrímsson will need the luck of the Irish as he tries to revive our World Cup dreams in do-or-die clashes against Portugal and Armenia. But he might have a good claim on it. His home place in Iceland is named after us. Hallgrímsson was...

Prosecutor seeks life sentence for Icelandic defendant

“The defendant has confessed to his role in the case concerning a 63-year-old woman who was shot to death in her home in Stockholm exactly one year ago,” said Alexandra Bittner, district prosecutor and lead prosecutor in the case against the...

REPORT: Work in Progress @ Reykjavík International Film Festival 2025

08/10/2025 - Cineuropa takes a closer look at five promising Northern European projects unveiled during this year’s Icelandic gathering Death of a Horse by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson and Óskar Þór Axelsson (© ACT4) Held on 3 October, the...

Iceland’s Fly Play Airline Ceases Operations After Four Years

Icelandic low-cost carrier Fly Play has ceased operations and cancelled all flights worldwide, ending its services four years after launching in 2021. The airline announced the decision on 29 September 2025, citing financial underperformance and...

Goodbye, Seattle: Icelandair's Long-Haul Airbus A321LR Routes Have Changed

Big changes are coming to Icelandair's long-haul Airbus A321LR network. According to the carrier's recent schedule update for the peak summer of 2026, the single-aisle equipment's US offer will see flights to Newark, New York JFK, Orlando, and...