Play shifting from rapid expansion to ‘surgical’ network tightening: CEO

Icelandic low-cost airline Play’s chief executive, Birgir Jonsson, appears prepared to turn off the seat-belt sign nearly two years after the carrier embarked on its rapid ascent through an uncertain and tempestuous air transport sector. Since it launched services in June 2021, Play has expanded to nearly 40 destinations – with Scottish city Glasgow the latest addition – while building a fleet of 10 Airbus single-aisle jets, and Jonsson believes the company needs a plateau phase. “I think this year we’ll reach the scale we need to utilise fixed costs,” he tells FlightGlobal. “This is really the year where Play is born as a company which is out of the start-up phase, out of the incubation period.” Play only implemented its full network in June last year, he says, with US flights enabling the carrier to shift from point-to-point services to a transatlantic bridge model between Europe and North America. “That’s really the driver for the business,” says Jonsson. Play expects to start turning in positive earnings this year, and Jonsson believes it would have generated a “decent financial return” last year but for the unexpected $35 million impact of higher fuel prices – particularly given the near-80% average load factor, achieved despite persistent pandemic effects. “We needed quite a steep growth. From zero to 100 is a steep curve,” he says. “But we’re not in love with the growth. We needed growth to get to the scale and utilise the full benefits of the network. We needed a certain number of US destinations to feed into the European destinations, and needed a certain number of aircraft for that.”<br/>