An Iceland-based airline will offer low-cost flights to Europe from Hamilton, Ont., starting this summer.

Iceland-based Fly Play hf. began operating in Canada on Jan. 10, allowing travellers to book tickets to 26 European destinations including London, Paris and Berlin. All Play flights go through Iceland’s Reykjavik Keflavik airport, with stopovers of at least an hour.

With its launch, Play said it will offer tickets for as low as $129 and $169 to 13 destinations across Europe for roundtrip flights scheduled between August and October. Flight service from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport will begin on June 22.

“People like more competition and new options because the only thing it’s gonna guarantee are lower fares and more airlines fighting for the same customer. So that’s always good for the consumer,” the airline’s chief executive, Birgir Jónsson, said in an interview.

Canada’s market is currently dominated by major local players, Air Canada, WestJet Airlines Ltd. and Air Transat A.T. Inc., as well as Canadian low-cost carriers such as  Flair Airlines Ltd., Sunwing Airlines Inc. and WestJet subsidiary Swoop Inc.

Jónsson said Play has been expanding in the U.S. over the past months and with its focus on expanding services to the east coast of North America, an airport in Ontario was a “logical next step” for the carrier.

“(There’s a) very historically proven market between Europe and Canada … so it checked a lot of boxes,” he said. Jónsson said Play will be able to offer the lowest fares from Hamilton to Europe, with connections to major cities. The company operates flights on new Airbus A321NEO and A320NEO aircraft.

He added that the new daily routes with lower fares will help grow local tourism in Iceland, where it is the largest industry.

Play is just one of several carriers expanding services in Canada this summer. Major Canadian airlines have also announced added routes in the past months, as the travel industry recovers from a pandemic-induced slump.

In September, Flair Airlines announced it will expand its fleet in a bid to grow capacity by 50 per cent by the summer, which it said would make it Canada’s third-largest airline by seats flown. A week later, Air Canada announced it will add direct flights to the U.S. from Halifax and Vancouver this summer. In June, the WestJet Group said it will add new routes and centre its existing wide-body 787 Dreamliner fleet around Western Canada.

Play chose Hamilton’s airport for its lower costs, which allow the carrier to offer “sustainable lower prices” that are in line with its business model, but Jónsson said that expanding into other Canadian cities is “absolutely something that we are looking at.”

“On paper, it’s a perfect airport for us and I really hope that it’s going to work,” Jónsson said. “I’m confident, but then we will see what the next step is going to be.”

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