Did a flight I’ve been wanting to do since 2022, when I first saw Icelandair’s 737 MAX 8 while transiting through Minneapolis.
Server: Solo
Airline: Icelandair
Aircraft: Boeing 737 MAX 8
Origin: Keflavík International Airport, Suðurnesjabær, Iceland (KEF)
Destination: Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Fort Snelling, Minnesota (MSP)
Flight Number: FI657
Route: BIKF-KMSP
Seat: 11F (Economy)
Time En Route: 6 Hours 13 Minutes
Boarding at Keflavík. Icelandair has been serving the United States since the mid-20th Century, though it’s only in recent years that it’s been adding a new U.S. destination almost every year. At the forefront of this effort is the 737 MAX family, which FI operates in both the MAX 8 and 9 variants, along with their rivals from Airbus, the A321LR and XLR, which are replacing the venerable 757s.
Taxiing across Runway 01/19. For friends of the Flying Pencil, fear not! Icelandair is not the only direct connection between the island nation and the United States, nor even between there and Minneapolis. Delta Air Lines flies to Reykjavík during the northern summer with the 757-200, and will be doing so for the foreseeable future.
Taking off from Runway 28. Barely visible are the alert pads from when KEF was a major USAF and USN installation, with the 57th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron tasked with intercepting Soviet bombers and various P-3 squadrons tasked with hunting Soviet submarines. Even today, NATO fighter squadrons carry out rotating deployments to KEF to carry out the Quick Reaction Alert mission.
Climbing out over the North Atlantic
Clear skies by the time we reach Greenland
Over Canada’s boreal forests
Descent over Duluth
Landing in Minneapolis just in time for dinner
Taxiing across the runway we landed on as we head to the H Gates
Parked at H2 in the early evening