Play goes bankrupt: another Icelandic timber company fails

Founded five years ago, Play was still flying between London Stansted, Amsterdam, Paris CDG, Alicante and Faro until Monday morning, with the last flight from Reykjavík to Stansted landing at 10:40 a.m. The return flight, as well as all other scheduled flights, has been canceled.

Play was founded in 2019 by two former Wow Air executives after the airline filed for bankruptcy. The low-cost carrier, which launched in 2021, relied on a business model similar to Icelandair: it wanted to connect European and North American destinations using the central location of Keflavik Airport.

However, the debt burden after the pandemic proved too great. Although the company’s CEO Einar Orn Olafsson had been optimistic about the schedule review and revenue growth in February, the reality was different: Play posted a loss of £49 million in 2024, or an average loss of £31 per passenger. In its most recent financial report, it had promised profitability by 2026, but that has now fallen through.

Industry analyst Sean Moulton said Play’s strategy – connecting secondary cities with Europe and North America – was not viable due to limited demand and low margins. It is estimated that around 1,200 passengers will be directly affected by the cancellations.