The bi-weekly business paper, Vidskiptabladid, reports that Icelandair plans to move its operations from Orlando International Airport (OIA) to Orlando Sanford International Airport. Icelandair was the first airline to commence scheduled international flights to OIA twenty years ago.
The move, planned for March 2006, will mean a one hour, instead of a 30 minute, drive to Disney World for passengers traveling with Icelandair to Orlando.
According to The Orlando Sentinel the Orlando Sanford International Airport and Seminole County offered Icelandair $75,000 a year for the next seven years as an incentive to make the move, said Michael Caires, a spokesman for the airport.
Orlando International spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said airport officials were upset by the loss, but those concerns were minimized by Icelandair’s small market share there.
According to Orlando International statistics, Icelandair accounted for 0.18 percent of market share at the airport in the fiscal year 2005.
