For these travelers, paradise is a cold place — and new Miami flights go there

Rosanne Chastanet is finally getting a chance to check an item off of her bucket list.

Just past 6:30 p.m Oct. 26 as the sun was fading — a sign of what awaited on her one-week trip — her flight departed Miami for Reykjavik, Iceland, near the Arctic Circle. The 36-year-old engineer from Kendall was going at last to see the northern lights.

She was traveling with her mother, 65-year-old Rose Chastanet, who also placed visiting Iceland among her top vacation getaways.

The two were making their first trip to a country where temperatures hover in the 50s — in the summer. Rose was eager to see the wildlife and feel the chill.

“I prefer the cold,” she said.

The two got an added surprise. Their flight was Icelandair’s debut from Miami International Airport to Reykjavik. They were now a small part of South Florida aviation history.

“I didn’t know it was the first flight,” said a beaming Rosanne while waiting to board at her gate in Concourse E at MIA. “It’s amazing.”

Flights from Miami to Iceland

South Florida and Iceland, with just about 405,000 people — the Sunshine State has 57 times the population — may seem far apart, literally and metaphorically. But the people in both places are excited about MIA’s newest route.

Icelandair, the country’s flagship airline, will offer three direct flights a week between Keflavik International Airport and MIA. Departures from Miami will leave Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s the only way to travel nonstop between Iceland’s capital and South Florida.

The carrier will fly a new Airbus A321LR aircraft. Last year, it obtained an Airbus for the first time in its 87-year history. The plane has 187 seats, with 22 in business class and a single aisle, unusual for transatlantic journeys.

These are Icelandair’s first regularly scheduled, commercial flights between Miami and Reykjavik. In 2022, the airline ran charter flights between Miami and Cuba for a South Florida travel company, trips authorized then by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

On the Oct. 26 debut departure, 155 of 165 seats in economy were filled, Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair president and CEO, told the Miami Herald as he participated in inaugural festivities at Gate E10.

He arrived in Miami the night before, on Icelandair’s first flight from Reykjavik to MIA. That plane was also full, with only about eight vacant seats, he said.

A discounted price of $399 round-trip will be offered initially, the executive said. A review of the airline’s website on Oct. 30 found round-trip economy class tickets for travel in November available and ranging from $262.60 to $578.10.

These three-times-a-week flights will continue until the end of May 2026.

“We’re starting seasonal,” Bogason said. That’s similar to what the airline did in Orlando years ago. Today, Icelandair has six daily flights, year-round, between Reykjavik and Orlando.

There are reasons for optimism. May is two months later than Icelandair originally planned, suggesting strong demand.

Yet it’s one month before the 2026 World Cup starts, with Miami one of the host cities. Asked why the carrier would not stay through the event, Bogason replied that the company doesn’t have the capacity.

“We don’t have the aircrafts,” he said. And they’ll fly to plenty of other host cities in the U.S., he noted.

Icelandair, founded in 1937, incurred a net financial loss of $20 million in 2024, down from the $11 million profit it posted in 2023. But the airline saw some improvement the last three months of last year. Over the full 2024, it carried 4.7 million passengers, a record, 9% more than in 2023.

South Florida to Scandinavia

Icelandair isn’t the only option for those seeking colder climates.

In December, Finnair will resume offering three flights a week between Helsinki and MIA. The seasonal flights will last until March 2026.

That route could also benefit some of Miami’s major cruise companies. The Royal Caribbean Group has many of its ships built at the renowned Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland. Doral-based Carnival Corp. has had ships made there, too.

Meanwhile, SAS, the flagship airline of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, returned the weekend of Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 with seasonal flights. The carrier now offers five flights each week between MIA and Copenhagen, until March 28, 2026. Beginning Nov. 29, it’ll have two flights per week between MIA and Stockholm, through Feb. 26, 2026. All the trips are nonstop.

Porter Airlines has also resumed four flights a week between Miami and Toronto, where high temperatures in January and February are in the low-30s.

A trip for the adventurous

Iceland may be for those more adventurous.

Miami’s appeal to Icelanders are obvious, but Bogason, the airline CEO, sees demand in both directions.

“We expect a mix of travelers from Iceland and from Miami,” he said.

One big draw, the northern lights, “are the visible result of solar particles entering the earth’s magnetic field and ionizing high in the atmosphere,” according to the Guide to Iceland site. “The ionization gives them their colors, usually green, but occasionally purple, red, pink, orange and blue.”

Bogason’s optimism also comes from airline’s network. Icelandair connects to 30 cities in Europe and offers an intriguing stop-over option. You can stay up to seven days in Iceland before flying elsewhere for no added fare.

“It’s not just about flights between Iceland and Miami,” Bogason said. “We’re also opening the door to connections in Europe.”

That could work the other way, too, which would benefit Miami tourism.

Returning to London via Iceland

John Saxby, 54, and his wife Maureen Saxby, 53, also flew on the Oct. 26 flight from Miami.

The British couple live near Liverpool. Waiting at the gate, they recounted that they flew from London to Atlanta on Virgin Atlantic. They then took Delta Air Lines to FLL. They spent three days in Fort Lauderdale before boarding an eight-day cruise on Royal Caribbean.

But they’d bought a package, which to their surprise already had their return on Icelandair from MIA.

“When I first saw the name Icelandair, I thought it was a local airline, in Iceland,” John Saxby said.

They also had no idea they’d be on the first flight. But they enjoyed the milestone and the festivities at the gate.

“This is a nice way to end the holiday,” he said.

MIA is Icelandair’s 19th destination in North America. Others include Nashville, Denver, Portland and Raleigh-Durham. Worldwide, the airline flies to over 60 locales.

The flight from MIA is just under eight hours, shorter than trips to more popular European cities, or to Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Buenos Aires.

Another airline did attempt to connect Iceland and South Florida. WOW Air flew between 2012 and 2019, from MIA and FLL, before being forced to shut down.

What will Miami people see in Iceland?

Iceland has many sites drawing South Floridians.

According to Reykjavik-based travel company Arctic Adventures, northern lights season started early this year, in August. And visitors will be treated to a solar maximum, “a once in 11-year celestial event that makes auroras brighter, bolder and more frequent,” the company said. The season lasts until mid-April.

Lava caving, secluded hot springs and zip lining on a glacier are other options, notes the 40-plus-year-old agency.

Jody Diamond, a Miami-based publicist who knows the country, recommends Iceland’s southern coast “for real adventurers.” There you’ll find dramatic topography, waterfalls, striking black sand beaches and puffin colonies of the Westman Islands, she said.

Diamond, who was also on the Oct. 26 flight and whose clients include Hotel Rangá in Hella, Iceland, said mid-August and September are the best times to see that region.

Then there’s the total solar eclipse in August 2026. Iceland will prominently be in the path. Keep in mind that the country’s skies can get cloudy that month. Check the weather forecasts and talk to experts before planning a trip then.

Many South Floridians can’t wait until then.

Cheryl Cole, a 74-year-old retiree from Palmetto Bay, was also on the first flight from MIA, with her lifelong partner. Both were going to visit Iceland for the first time, and for 11 days.

Their motivation? “Amazing natural beauty,” Cole said. She was eager to visit the glaciers.

Iceland is also known for steaming geysers and watching whales, but it has more than nature.

It’s home to a popular band called Los Bomboneros that plays Latin music.

Then there’s soccer. In 2018, Iceland stunned the world, qualifying for the men’s 2018 World Cup in Russia for the first time. Then it tied Lionel Messi-led Argentina 1-1 in group play. It was the tiniest nation to play in the quadrennial tournament. The United States didn’t even qualify.

Iceland’s national team then played a friendly at Fort Lauderdale against Guatemala in 2024, the first European men’s team to play at the Broward stadium, temporary home of Inter Miami. Iceland-native Dagur Dan Thorhallsson plays for Orlando City. And the country is still in the running to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which will have matches held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

Icelandair may not extend its flights past next May, but some travelers in South Florida wish it would, and not just because of the soccer tournament.

Cheryl Cole and her partner usually get out of town in the summer. “Normally we take off in an RV, to get away from the heat,” she said. Asked if she’d like to go Iceland in the summer, or have the option to go there, she replied, “100%.”

Rosanne Chastane and her mom concurred.

Bucket lists usually involve going somewhere just once. But one hour before boarding the debut Icelandair flight for what would be her first trip, she’d already made an important decision.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll return to Iceland for a second trip.”