Icelandair to handle all FedEx shipments to and from Iceland

Icelandair Cargo signed a three-year deal with FedEx to handle all FedEx and TNT shipments to and from Iceland, the carrier said in a statement on Friday. The deal will go into effect in early 2020.

The three-year agreement will support U.S.-based FedEx in its goal of expanding operations in Iceland, the statement said. Meanwhile, Icelandair will make some rearrangements to its European flying schedule, the most significant of which involves adding flights to one of FedEx’s main European hubs at Liege (LGG). Icelandair will fly seven times weekly to LGG and three times weekly to East Midlands Airport (EMA) in the United Kingdom.

Icelandair’s cargo division received a significant boost from the addition of 767 passenger aircraft to its fleet, the carrier said. The company estimates its 2019 cargo handle totals about 50,000 tonnes, about 60% of which is carried via its passenger aircraft.

The service from Icelandair’s base at Reykjavik (RKV) to LGG is also expected to support European cargo operations following the increasingly likely Brexit, Gunnar Már Sigurfinnsson, Icelandair Cargo’s managing director, said in a statement.

“With Brexit being imminent there are opportunities for increased flights to mainland Europe, as large shares of marine products that were flown to the U.K. were forwarded to the mainland within the same day,” he said. “More flights to Belgium ensure that exporters have a safe route to important markets in Europe.”