Glasgow Revealed as PLAY’s Third UK Route

Glasgow has been revealed as PLAY’s third UK route. It will begin serving Liverpool and London Stansted in May, going head-to-head with Icelandair (and Jet2 to a minimal degree in winter). This summer, there will be the most flights ever to Glasgow, up to ten weekly.

Starting on 26th May, PLAY will serve Glasgow four weekly – Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays – until mid-September. After that, it will be three times per week until mid-October, then drop to twice per week during the winter. On the 840-mile (1,351-km) airport pair, 180-seat A320neos will be used, however the 214-seat A321neo may readily take their place if demand calls for it.

The schedule is listed below, with timings in local time. The market had about 40,000 passengers last year, and the flight is timed to connect in both ways to/from Baltimore, Boston, Hamilton (for Greater Toronto), Stewart, and Washington Dulles in addition to catering to point-to-point demand. This link is made possible by its extended 2h 5m turn in Scotland.

Keflavik to Glasgow: OG820, 06:15-09:45
Glasgow to Keflavik: OG821, 11:50-13:20

This summer, PLAY and Icelandair will go head-to-head to the largest city in Scotland. The flag carrier operates six times weekly during the busiest summer months, increasing to daily service in October. It mostly employs the 737 MAX 8, with the 757-200ER and 737 MAX 9 being used on occasion.

In the last 20 years, PLAY will be only the third airline to fly from Glasgow to Keflavik. Jet2, albeit with limited services, is the only other operator outside long-standing Icelandair (just four roundtrips in 2023). In contrast, Edinburgh-Keflavik has seen more carriers, including easyJet, Icelandair, Iceland Express, Jet2, WOW Air, and more. Only EasyJet and Jet2 are left of them.

The airline will now fly to Stansted, Liverpool, and Glasgow up to four times per week (daily). It is not quite as simple as that, as is frequently the case. Liverpool, which PLAY debuted in October, closes on May 15th. Glasgow has essentially taken its position, but it will return on 1st September.

Before, Liverpool was supposed to run all year long. It is unclear whether the summer stoppage is more a result of performance, a dearth of planes, or the fact that the majority of customers are P2P and winter is a more sought-after season to travel to Iceland. It might possibly be connected to the summertime decline in football attendance.