Icelandair

Icelandair is no mass phenomenon at German airports – and that is exactly what makes it a nice catch. Only a few aircraft from Keflavík arrive at each airport, and if you look closely, you see an airline in the middle of a transition: the Boeing 757, the face of the Icelandic carrier for more than three decades, is saying goodbye while the 737 MAX and Airbus A321LR take over. This page shows you how to recognize Icelandair, which types to expect where, and why a quick photo of the last 757s is worth it.

Icelandair at a glance

Icelandair is Iceland’s network airline and belongs to the publicly listed Icelandair Group. Its business model is closely tied to the island’s location: Iceland lies almost exactly halfway between Europe and North America. Icelandair uses that to let passengers connect between the two continents via the Keflavík hub – supplemented by travelers headed to Iceland or starting their trip there. The group itself describes four markets: to Iceland, from Iceland, via Iceland and within Iceland.

The roots go back to 1937. That year Flugfélag Akureyrar was founded in Akureyri in the north of the island, becoming Flugfélag Íslands in 1940. In 1944 three young pilots founded Loftleiðir, which became known from 1953 for particularly cheap transatlantic flights. In 1973 both companies came under the shared roof of the holding company Flugleiðir, and in 1979 they merged into a single airline, which flies today as Icelandair. Today the airline is based in Hafnarfjörður near Reykjavík; management moved there in 2024 from the building at Reykjavík Airport it had used for decades.

Compared with large network airlines like Lufthansa, Icelandair is small: in 2025 it carried around 5.1 million passengers. The group itself cites more than 60 destinations and over 50 aircraft.

Codes, callsign and registration

• IATA code FI: appears in the flight number, so on the departures board and on the ticket.
• ICAO code ICE: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign ICEAIR: how the crew identifies itself on the radio.
• Registration TF-: the prefix of the Icelandic aircraft register.

The TF- is especially handy for spotters because it rarely shows up in central Europe. If you see a TF registration on the fuselage, you almost always have an Icelandic aircraft in front of you. How country prefixes work in general is explained in the article on country codes on aircraft, and the guide to aircraft registrations shows how to read the letters that follow.

The Keflavík model: connecting halfway

Icelandair builds its schedule around connecting waves in Keflavík. Put simply: flights from Europe and flights from North America arrive on the island in fixed time windows so that passengers can quickly continue in the other direction. For you as a spotter in Germany, that means Icelandair mostly shows up at recurring times of day rather than spread throughout the day.

Because the routes between Iceland and Europe or North America are comparatively short, long-range narrowbody aircraft are enough. That is exactly why the Boeing 757 was so important for so long – and exactly why the 737 MAX and A321LR fit so well today.

One hallmark is the stopover program: since the 1960s, travelers between Europe and North America can stay in Iceland for up to seven days without paying more for the flight. That makes Icelandair a mix of connecting airline and feeder for Icelandic tourism.

Partners include Finnair, TAP Air Portugal and Aegean. Icelandair does not belong to any of the three major alliances, though – you can find more on the alliances in the comparison of Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam.

The fleet in transition

Hardly any airline in Europe is changing aircraft generations as visibly right now as Icelandair. According to the fleet overview (as of end of 2025) and company statements, the picture looks like this:

Type	Number (end of 2025)	Seats	Role	Spotter tip
Boeing 737 MAX 8	17	160	Europe and North America	Most common type in the fleet
Boeing 737 MAX 9	4	176	Europe and North America	Longer than the MAX 8, hard to tell apart
Airbus A321LR	6, more on order	187	Long-range narrowbody role	First delivery in December 2024
Boeing 757-200	6	183	Retiring	Last examples by early 2028 at the latest
Boeing 767-300ER	2	262	Retiring	Passenger service ends 2026/27
Airbus A320	1 (leased)	154	Stopgap	Since June 2026 due to delayed A321LRs
Dash 8-200 and Dash 8-400	3 each	37 and 76	Domestic and Greenland	Taken over from Air Iceland Connect
Airbus A321XLR	13 on order	–	757 successor	Deliveries planned from 2029

For summer 2026, Icelandair expected 41 passenger aircraft, including 21 Boeing 737 MAX and seven A321LRs. Because A321LR deliveries were delayed, the airline leased an A320 as a stopgap. According to the fleet overview, aircraft of the A320neo family are also in the order books.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 and the 737 MAX 9 have flown for Icelandair since 2018; the order was signed back in 2013. The A321LR is a long-range variant from the family of the Airbus A321neo. On international routes, Icelandair relied on aircraft from Boeing for decades; with the firm order for 13 A321XLRs in 2023, Airbus moves much more into focus in the long term.

In the cargo business, sister company Icelandair Cargo flies converted Boeing 767 freighters. They also carry TF registrations, but are not an everyday sight at German passenger airports.

Farewell to the Boeing 757

In the 1990s the Boeing 757-200 became the backbone of Icelandair’s transatlantic flights. For decades it was the quintessential combination for spotters: a slim, long-legged fuselage, powerful engines and a TF registration. Many spotters still associate Icelandair mainly with this type.

That era is coming to an end. In October 2025 Icelandair announced it would accelerate its exit from the 757 and 767. According to company statements from February 2026, the last 757s and 767s will be retired by early 2028 at the latest; in spring 2026 the airline additionally examined whether the 757 could be removed from the fleet even faster. The 767-300ER leaves passenger service even sooner. According to Icelandair, the 737 MAX and A321LR already fly around 90 percent of international routes in 2026.

Special liveries: a chapter comes to an end

Icelandair was long known among spotters for three eye-catching 757s. All three are now history:

Name	Registration	Type	Theme	Status
Hekla Aurora	TF-FIU	Boeing 757-200	Northern lights	In service since December 2014, retired in October 2025
Vatnajökull	TF-FIR	Boeing 757-200	Glacier, for 80 years of Icelandic aviation	In service since 2017, last scheduled flight in September 2025
Þingvellir / 100 years of independence	TF-ISX	Boeing 757-300	Colors of the Icelandic flag	Retired in 2024

If you have one of these aircraft in your archive, you now own a real piece of spotting history. Whether Icelandair will bring new special paint schemes to the 737 MAX or A321LR remains open – the article Finding special liveries has tips on how to look.

How to recognize Icelandair

The standard livery shows the titles “Icelandair” on a white fuselage, and the tail carries the airline’s brand colors. A nice detail for photos: the 757 and 767 carry the name of an Icelandic volcano on the fuselage, and on other aircraft, too, it is worth looking for a name. That lets you identify individual aircraft even if you only just caught the registration in the picture.

737 MAX 8 or MAX 9?

The two versions look very similar. The MAX 9 is longer and has 176 seats at Icelandair instead of 160. At the spot you can best tell the difference from the ratio of fuselage ahead of and behind the wing – or, quite pragmatically, from the type code on the tracker (B38M for the MAX 8, B39M for the MAX 9).

Spotting Icelandair in Germany and neighboring countries

In Germany, Icelandair flies to Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin as of 2026. Hamburg has no longer been in the network since the 2025 summer schedule, and Düsseldorf is no longer served either. In Switzerland, Zurich is served year-round and Geneva seasonally; in Austria, Salzburg and Innsbruck are added seasonally.

Good spots for sighting Icelandair:

• Frankfurt: From the Zeppelinheim viewing platform you get a good view of the landings. You can read more about the place on the page for Frankfurt Airport.
• Munich: The visitors’ hill shows you the apron and runways – background on Munich Airport.
• Berlin: The observation deck at BER is the easiest way in, and you’ll find info on the place at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
• Zurich: From Spectator Terrace B you see the aircraft at the gate and while taxiing; more on Zurich Airport.
• Salzburg and Geneva: In season, the Salzburg observation deck and the Geneva observation deck are worth a visit.

Because Icelandair offers only a few flights per airport, the runway direction in use decides your photo. Check beforehand how the wind is blowing – the guide to the runway direction in use at airports helps with that. And plan the light: with the sun position planner you know whether your spot is backlit at the arrival time.

Common mix-ups

• Mistaking ICE for a train – on the tracker, ICE is Icelandair’s ICAO code.
• Confusing FI with Finnair – Finnair’s IATA code is AY; FI belongs to Icelandair.
• Assuming every TF aircraft is a scheduled flight – Icelandair Cargo and other Icelandic operators also carry TF registrations.
• Mistaking an A321LR for a regular A321neo – the LR is a range variant of the same family; from the outside, often only the registration or the tracker helps.
• Treating MAX 8 and MAX 9 as the same – the MAX 9 is longer; when in doubt, the type code decides.
• Leaving old special liveries on your wish list – Hekla Aurora, Vatnajökull and Þingvellir no longer fly.

Conclusion

Icelandair is a small network airline with a big spotting history. Iceland’s position between Europe and North America shapes its business model, and the Boeing 757 defined its image for decades. That era is ending right now: the 737 MAX and A321LR are taking over, and the famous special liveries have been retired. If you note TF registrations, aircraft names and types carefully now, you are documenting a generation change that will be complete in a few years.