Solar eclipse affects Icelandair traffic mix

Icelandair carried 577,000 passengers in August 2026, down 5% from the same month last year, as a solar eclipse changed the makeup of its traffic.

Passengers traveling to Iceland accounted for 47% of the total, while 17% traveled from Iceland, 32% were connecting passengers and 4% flew domestically. Passenger numbers to Iceland rose 11% year on year, those departing Iceland increased 12% and domestic passengers grew 4%. Connecting traffic, however, dropped 27%.

Icelandair said the shift reflected its continued focus on routes to and from Iceland. It also said a significant share of August capacity served demand linked to the solar eclipse in mid-August.

“We achieved excellent results in August, and demand for travel to Iceland was strong because of the solar eclipse,” chief executive Bogi Nils Bogason said. He praised staff for maintaining normal traffic flows and network capacity despite the sharp change in demand, and said the airline had improved its punctuality year on year. Gdansk was also being added to the network, expanding travel options and connections through Iceland.

Available seat-kilometers fell 5% year on year. The load factor declined to 85.8%, from 87.1% in August 2025, while punctuality improved by one percentage point to 81.9%. Revenue per passenger-kilometer rose 24% to 11.96 cents, mainly because of the changed passenger mix and higher fares to Iceland. Sold block hours in charter operations fell 9%, while freight traffic measured in tonne-kilometers increased 30%.

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We achieved excellent results in August, and demand for travel to Iceland was strong because of the solar eclipse.