Niceair is a virtual airline headquartered in Akureyri in the north of Iceland. The airline is based at Akureyri Airport. The company launched services on June 2, 2022 on a chartered Airbus A319.Niceair was announced in February 2022 as a virtual airline with the intention of bringing tourists to northern Iceland from other parts of Europe, with services scheduled to launch on June 2, 2022, using a fleet of one Airbus A319. The company was launched with financial backing from various investors, including Samherji and Norlandair. In addition, the company had no immediate plans to obtain its own operator’s certificate, instead planning to have its flights operated by a separate charter airline. In March 2022, it was revealed that Hi Fly Malta was the incumbent airline, and Niceair subsequently began selling tickets for the flights.
After launching its first flight to London Stansted on June 3, 2022, the company discovered that it was not allowed to carry passengers on its first return flight from London back to Akureyri as the air transport treaty between Iceland and the United Kingdom came into effect, the Brexit action prevented Hi Fly Malta from operating scheduled flights between the two countries on behalf of Niceair. The company subsequently suspended flight services to London Stansted Airport for at least the remainder of the month. Since then, however, the flights have not resumed. This also led to the fact that scheduled flights to Manchester did not take place either.
