Delta’s new Iceland routes portend more global expansion as vaccines prompt fewer restrictions

“Have vaccine, will travel,” appear to be buzzwords in the network planning department at Delta Air Lines as the carrier adds flights to Iceland following the country’s decision to reopen to vaccinated travelers. The Atlanta-based carrier will add new service between Boston and Reykjavík from May 20, and resume flights between both Minneapolis/St. Paul and New York JFK and the Icelandic capital the same month. All three routes will be flown with Boeing 757-200 aircraft. The move comes less than two weeks after Iceland announced that it would reopen without restrictions to all non-European travelers who are fully vaccinated. “As confidence in travel rises, we hope more countries continue reopening to vaccinated travelers,” said Joe Esposito, senior vice president of network planning at Delta, on Friday. Delta’s move portends a new trend among international airline planning: jumping at markets as they remove Covid-19 travel restrictions. European carriers are already doing this within the 25-nation EU bloc as individual members ease limits. And with many would-be travelers eager to get out — that “pent up demand” nearly every airline executive likes to mention — more such international routes seem inevitable.<br/>