There are countless reasons why Iceland should be on your bucket list: it's a country of stunning landscapes, the aurora borealis, glaciers, waterfalls and geysers. Indeed, tourism has in recent years become one of the main pillars of the Icelandic economy. As the country’s flag carrier, Icelandair plays a huge role in opening up the island nation to the world. The airline offers flights to, from, via and within Iceland.
The airline operates out of Keflavík in Iceland and makes use of the country's geographical location, midway between North America and Europe, to build an ever-growing network of international routes, with Iceland as a hub. The airline is a part of Icelandair Group.
“We’re the flag carrier of Iceland and Icelandair has been around for many years – the company traces its roots back to 1937,” says Bogi Nils Bogason, CEO of Icelandair. “Tourism is the largest export industry in Iceland and we can say that we’re the driving force behind the Icelandic tourism industry.”
Icelandair operates a hub-and-spoke business model, where the hub is in Keflavík Airport. From there, it connects the two continents of Europe and North America, as well as flying domestically within Iceland and to destinations in Greenland.
“Elavon knows the business and the airline industry inside and out. Having a counterparty like Elavon, and the Elavon team with us, is a great experience,” he continues. “They have the know-how about the industry, about us, our business model, our needs and challenges, and the seasonality in our business.”
“Elavon is the largest and most important acquirer for us, handling a very substantial portion of our international sales and web sales, particularly the US, but also the Scandi and European currencies,” says Sigrun Hjartardottir, the airline’s director of treasury and risk. “Elavon takes care of funneling a large part of that into US dollars, which is our functional currency. So it just makes life that much simpler.”
Hjartardottir had been on the job for four says when the pandemic suddenly and seriously affected Icelandair, with the closure of the United States borders. “So we reached out to all our trusted partners, of which Elavon is one of the largest, and came up with a plan,” she explains.
“I found that the Elavon team was, first of all, just responsive. They were easy to get to and they had that solution attitude, where we’re in this together. It matters that they have the backing of a large bank and that they’re made of stern stuff – as we are.
“So, I would have every confidence that we would be able to weather another storm like this,” says Sigrun.
“Elavon has been with us in the good and the bad times and was very supportive during the pandemic – and was a very important partner through the restructuring. And now we’re in a stronger position,” says Bogi Nils. “We believe in a strong and long-term relationship and that is what we see with Elavon going forward.”
Sigrun is looking forward to a bright future with Icelandair. “We’ve a multitude of opportunities that we're looking into or cultivating, such as opening new markets,” she confirms.
“What we need for that to be realised is a reliable partner such as Elavon, which can offer us a global reach and can work with us to expand the payment ecosystem we can offer our customers.”
Elavon understands the airline industry’s unique challenges and the need for a speedy, efficient payments system that meets the highest levels of security and compliance requirements. Learn more about how our payments solutions are ideal for airlines.