March 2, 2024

PLAY: Keeping it simple with an extra smile on board

“Iceland continues to be the safest destination – volcano eruptions have not disrupted any flights or travel in the past 13 years”

PLAY is a new Icelandic low-cost airline operating flights between North America and Europe. The airline is at ITB Berlin this year promoting its offer to the DACH market, with a strong emphasis on safety – a number one priority for the brand. While PLAY is a low-cost airline and as such operates on the business model of “pay only what you need”, on top of its low prices, the airline takes pride in offering on-time performance, friendly services and the youngest aircraft fleet in Europe.

Sonja Arnórsdóttir is the CCO at PLAY and leads the company‘s efforts in sales, marketing, customer service, PR, revenue management and distribution. She holds a bachelor‘s degree in financial engineering from Reykjavik University and has worked in revenue and sales in the airline industry for the past 10 years. ITB Berlin News spoke with Sonja Arnórsdóttir in an exclusive interview about Iceland as a destination, how PLAY is making the booking process easy for travellers and the stopover option designed to encourage travellers to discover Iceland in more depth.

Why is ITB Berlin such an important show for airlines and for PLAY specifically?
The ITB has several advantages for airlines in general: Firstly, it is a great place for networking, for example in terms of forging new partnerships and exploring business opportunities, and secondly, it provides a broad overview of current trends and developments in the travel industry. For us in particular, it is also important to increase our brand awareness in the DACH market. We currently serve four airports in Germany, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Hamburg.

Iceland has a reputation for being a very safe travel destination. How does this influence travellers’ decision to go there? How important is it to preserve this reputation?
Iceland is very safe and despite the news about our erupting volcanoes, it continues to be the safest destination – volcano eruptions have not disrupted any flights or travel in the past 13 years. Among other things, the island in the far north was voted top of the Global Peace Index for the 15th time.

PLAY states that its core values are on-time performance, simplicity, happiness, low prices, and safety. How are these core values integrated into PLAY’s offers and services?
Booking PLAY is extremely easy: You just choose what you need for your trip. We try to keep it simple – but still offer a product with Europe´s youngest fleet and an extra smile on board.

Can you tell us about the stopover in Iceland with no additional costs? What is the strategy behind this offer?
With this new offer, we want to give our customers even more opportunities to organise their trip according to their individual needs. Instead of spending just a few hours in our beautiful home country, travellers can experience Iceland´s incredible natural wonders such as waterfalls, geysers, hot springs, glaciers and the Northern Lights for up to ten days without additional flight costs. These extended stays at a comparatively low price are therefore a win-win for both our passengers and us.

How is the trend of customisable trips for a reasonable budget impacting the industry?
In times of inflation, customisable trips make it possible for many people to travel at a good value-for-money ratio.

PLAY: Keeping it simple with an extra smile on board

Visitors to ITB Berlin 2024 can learn more about PLAY on its stand in Hall 18.

Hall 18 / Stand 400c