As part of the promotion of Atlantic Airways and the Faroe Islands in France, Travelguys went with influential media colleagues to the Faroe Islands, at the invitation of the Faroe Islands airline, Atlantic Airways and GroupExpression.

Find the program of the series of articles which will be dedicated to Atlantic Airways:

The Faroe Islands… This mysterious archipelago that most of us have flown over on our way from Europe to America, or simply apprehended in an atlas or a tourist guide as a “country without being a country”. But few people imagine that this archipelago of 50,000 inhabitants would make a perfect setting for St. Exupery literature: not only are there three times as many sheep as men, but its only airport, Vagar, is home to a local airline called Atlantic Airways.

How is the airline developing and raising the profile of the Faroese archipelago?

Atlantic Airways is younger than the two co-founders of Travelguys: it was born in 1988. The national airline of the Faroe Islands, very confidential, has a fleet of five aircraft. There are 3 A320, including 2 A320 Neo, operating international routes, but also two Augusta Westland 139 helicopters operating between the islands of the archipelago, most of them being too rugged to host a landing strip, and too close to each other to justify domestic commercial flights.

Atlantic Airways is an airline like the Faroe Islands, that is to say a big family. And for good reason: the airline has about 30 pilots (including 8 helicopters), and 70 to 80 cabin crew. As for the rest of the employees (sales, check-in, marketing, support, management), there are about 80. It is therefore impossible for a crew to fly with a colleague they don’t know!

This gives the Faroese airline a family boutique feel that is now lost in the airline world. Nevertheless, his ambition is inevitably focused elsewhere. The re-launch of tourism activities after 2 years of pandemic and its development are a priority, and the national airline is the first ambassador in this sense.

The airline’s operations are historically focused on the sovereign kingdom of the Faroe Islands: Denmark. Territorial continuity obliges. There are at least one, usually two, if not three daily frequencies to Copenhagen, in addition to the daily frequency operated by the first cousin, SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System). This link is strategic. Many Faroese are Danish commuters for whom the airplane is the only way to reach their business in Copenhagen during the week, and their family in the Faroes at the weekend. There is still a daily flight at 8:20 a.m. to Kastrup (Copenhagen), and a return flight on Friday evening. And there is alternatively a service from Billund or Aalborg, two of the great metropolises of the kingdom to the mermaid.

A clear strategy is nevertheless emerging with the expansion to new markets. Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital, is served three times a week. The Faroe Islands have an important free trade agreement with its Icelandic neighbor. But further south, Atlantic Airways has been targeting Paris since 2019: a gateway to a major European hub had become vital to the airline’s ambitions, with the support of its Air France-KLM codeshare, which guarantees connections from a number of European cities thanks to the power of the Franco-Dutch group.

The opening to the summer 2019 season, however, was abruptly derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It resumed in 2022, as travel restrictions were eased. Since May 17, 2022, two weekly flights connect Paris to Vagar, on A320.

The strategy is also focused on export tourism. Indeed, the development of roads between Vagar and Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and the Canary Islands have nothing to do with it: the Feringians are thirsty for sun (let’s not forget that at this latitude, the nights are long in winter) and the further south you are, the better.

What is the service and loyalty strategy?

The Faroe Islands, as seen above, are a very small area. The choices on the service on board reflect certain cultural aspects of the archipelago, according to a thinly veiled cult of minimalism. As a result, the airline’s A320 fleet is single-class. The introduction of a business class would probably not find its audience, or even bother them. Like the SAS cousin, the vital drinks, water, tea and coffee, are free. But for the rest, a menu will show you the buy-on-board options, which we will detail in the Paris-Vagar and Vagar-Paris flight reports.

The egalitarian privilege existing in a community as small as the Faroe Islands also leads to certain choices about loyalty income. There is a program called Sùlubonus of a disconcerting simplicity that would surprise more than one Flying Blue or Miles & More traveler. It’s easy to see that you’ll need 10 round trips between Vagar and Barcelona at the LOW fare to afford a round trip with your points. No more complicated calculations based on distance, tax and fee exclusions, married segments…

This choice is also reflected in loyalty levels. The Gold level, at 20,000 points/year (i.e. 20 round trips Vagar-Copenhagen per year) will offer you fast track + Lounge in Copenhagen ( for lack of being able to offer these services to Vagar, which would surely not present any qualitative or even quantitative viable return on investment), and an extra piece of luggage. The Basalt level at 40,000 points will provide you with food and beverage services on board. This clearly shows the airline’s very Copenhagenian tropism.

What future for Atlantic Airways?

Atlantic Airways is and will remain an airline reserved for a restricted public with very particular travel habits. Nevertheless, the management of the airline hopes to continue to expand as much as the slots at Vagar airport can (it should be noted that the facilities do not even allow for maintenance, done in Rejkyavik by Lufthansa Technik).

The airline has already ordered two A320 neos at the Paris Air Show for delivery by 2027. This still represents a 66% increase in international seating capacity over what is currently offered. But what will these aircrafts do? The management confides in us that they want to start the Vagar-New York route. The Federal Aviation Administration’s approval has come, but it remains to be seen which airport, how, and when. They are planning one weekly schedule… Not enough to make Vagar a hub, but why not bring some feringians to the Big Apple.

Similarly, a connection to London, another major European hub that the airline should have opened in March 2020 if all had gone well, is still somewhere in the pipeline…

So it’ s not clear where the future will take Atlantic Airways, but what is certain is that we find in this family niche all the charm of the commercial aviation of yesteryear : an airline that is close to its customers and offers the expected services, coupled with a very atlantic ambition. But still affordable: prices for the Paris-Vagar route start at 97 euros one way, on the Atlantic Airways website. Enough to give a boost to the search for the summer vacation spot to the latecomers of 2022…

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