Icelandair St. – St. Louis travelers gain a direct path to Iceland and Europe as Icelandair announces new service from Lambert International Airport beginning in May 2027.
The tarmac at St. Louis Lambert International Airport will see a new tail fin next spring. Starting May 14, 2027, Icelandair will begin direct service from St. Louis to Keflavik International Airport near Reykjavík, marking the carrier’s 16th U.S. gateway and its first expansion into a new American destination for that year.
For travelers in the Midwest, the schedule offers a rhythmic link to the Atlantic. Flights are slated to run three to four times weekly—specifically on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays—through October 24, 2027. The airline plans to deploy a Boeing 737 MAX 8 for the route. configuring the cabin with 16 business-class recliner seats and 144 economy seats.
This move reinforces a deeper tactical shift for the airline. Icelandair is currently operating 15% more seat capacity into the U.S. than it did in 2019, a period of aggressive growth signaled by data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. The St. Louis addition also leans heavily on a budding partnership with Southwest Airlines, the busiest carrier at Lambert. By aligning with Southwest. the two airlines aim to streamline connections for passengers moving between North American cities. Iceland. and beyond into Europe.
Tómas Ingason. chief commercial officer at Icelandair. highlighted the importance of this network integration. noting that the partnership is designed to create convenient transit points across their combined global footprint. Travelers who prefer a slower pace can also opt into the airline’s program that allows for a free stopover of up to seven days in Iceland.
For St. Louis, this represents a return to a specific transatlantic connection. While British Airways and Lufthansa established service to the city in the post-pandemic years. the KEF route saw a brief iteration under the now-defunct budget carrier WOW Air in 2018 and 2019. Icelandair now steps into that slot, joining a growing roster of international carriers at the airport.
The math of the route is straightforward: by tethering the Midwest’s “Gateway to the West” to its own hub in the North Atlantic. the airline is betting on the capacity of St. Louis to serve as a vital conduit for American travelers reaching for Europe. The arrival of the 737 MAX 8 next May will be the final step in a strategy that has been months in the making.
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