Low-Cost Iceland Express May No Longer Be Flying Between New York and Iceland

Iceland Express ( www.icelandexpress.com ), that upstart airline offering a cheap means of reaching several European destinations from New York via Reykjavik, has apparently ceased flying between New York and Reykjavik. I use the word "apparently" because no formal announcement has been made by the airline, and its website appears unchanged. But people at the Iceland Tourist Office in New York have confirmed the news, and when you attempt to make a booking for a New York to Reykjavik flight during the spring months when the airline would normally resume flying between New York and Reykjavik, you are told that there are no flights scheduled for the dates you desire. And since no such dates at all are available on the website, the decision to cease serving that route seems utterly clear.
 
So henceforth, one will need to fly the long-established Icelandair ( www.icelandair.com ) between New York and Reykjavik, but for a higher price than Iceland Express used to charge. But how does one then fly cheaply from Reykjavik to any of several European cities? That's becoming increasingly possible, as a result of the announcement this month that low-cost EasyJet Airlines will begin flying three times a week between London's Luton Airport and Iceland, starting March 27, and a new Iceland-based airline called WOW Airlines (I'm serious) will start flying three times a week between London's Stansted Airport and Iceland starting June 1. EasyJet will charge a highly-attractive £32.99 one-way, and from £58.81 round-trip. WOW will charge (it says) £53 each way, perhaps to be reduced for round-trip purchase.
 
So presumably, you will still be able to save money on a trans-Atlantic journey by flying Icelandair to Reykjavik, and then switching (after a possible stay in Iceland) to either EasyJet or WOW for the remainder of the crossing. This will become clear once Icelandair firmly announces its spring and summer rates out of New York. Currently, one pays $565 (that's dollars, not pounds) to Icelandair for the round-trip (including all taxes and fees) in springtime between New York and Reykjavik, Iceland.
 
And what about Iceland Express? Because a company called Astraeus Airlines (which used to "operate" Iceland Express) has apparently gone bankrupt, according to several reports, the future of Iceland Express is unsettled, although several Iceland business people are attempting to revive it (and they may succeed). But meantime, sharp-eyed, ultra-cost-conscious travelers will want to do the arithmetic, adding the cost of an EasyJet or WOW airlines flight to that of Icelandair, and then seeing whether the resulting figure is below the cost of a standard airline between New York and Europe. Because of the low-cost nature of nearly all EasyJet flights, this may well be the case. Stay tuned.