KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A day after Icelandair announced it was discontinuing service at Kansas City International Airport, details released indicate a variety of factors were involved in the decision.
The service launched in May 2018, thanks in part to a package of incentives from the Kansas City Aviation Department, the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas City Area Development Council.
The incentives included the airport waiving $1,750 worth of fees for every flight. For the two years the airline operated at KCI, the amount of fees waived totaled $172,000.
The airline was also given a $250,000 marketing package for advertisements around the city and online.
Both types of incentives are used when cities are attempting to bring in new airline service.
The Development Council and Chamber agreed to pay the airline stop-loss funding, if the route didn't make enough money.
“The amount is still to be determined, but we will honor our commitment to Icelandair. The KC business community stepped up and helped create the operational climate for the attraction of the first ever transatlantic flight," Kansas City Area Development Council President and CEO Tim Cowden said.
The Chamber hasn't commented on whether they will owe the airline anything.
Justin Meyer, director of marketing for the KCMO Aviation Department, said the departure of Icelandair doesn't mean people weren't interested. There just wasn't enough of a profit.
A major factor in the decision to leave the market is the ongoing grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which Meyer said was a "significant hindrance" because the 737 is smaller and more efficient than the older, heavier Boeing 757s that were used in the first two years of the service.
That led to KCI taking on a 33% increase in seats.
Icelandair responded Friday to a request for comment from 41 Action News, saying "unforeseen circumstances" caused the airline to "reevaluate and adjust our network moving into 2020."
Here is the full statement from Icelandair, which also announced it was discontinuing nonstop service to San Francisco:
Due to many unforeseen circumstances we have had to reevaluate and adjust our network moving into 2020.
Icelandair has had to make tough decision on how we can most efficiently utilize our fleet.
Our decision to cancel service from MCI was not an easy one and it does not mean we will never return.
However, it was the most logical decision at this time based on the variables we were facing.
We would like to thank everyone in Kansas City for the opportunity to serve your wonderful community and we hope we are able to return someday.
Icelandair left the door open for a possible return at a later time.
"It started out with some interest and became very sporadic then almost no bookings from our standpoint," Dave Wilson of Wilson Travel and Cruises said.
Wilson said he's noticed more interest in taking a cruise around Iceland rather than flying there.
"I was personally disappointed they didn't bring in more of their tourism people and then develop advertising of the market, because people aren't aware of Iceland as a travel destination," he said.
Without Icelandair, KCI no longer has a direct transatlantic flight. The airport offers three international nonstop flights to Toronto, Cancun, Mexico, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Meyer said the airport is talking to other airlines, domestic and international, and is confident they'll get more opportunities for international travel.
