PLAY to Launching Iceland’s newest
BUSINESS INTERVIEW
to win: newest budget airline
Andri Eyjolfsson, Executive Director of Operations at PLAY Airlines (PLAY) highlights the strategies behind the company’s transformational journey in recent years.
When Executive Director of Operations Andri Eyjolfsson
first joined PLAY Airlines (PLAY) in 2019, it was just an idea on a drawing board.
Today, the company is flying one and a half million passengers per year, and the airline’s ambitions are only growing.
“I’ve really been a part of a journey,” says Andri. “In mid-2019, the founders of PLAY approached me and told me that they were putting together a small team to start a new low-cost airline in Iceland. This initial team was less than ten people and we didn’t have an office. At that point, we were all working from our homes. Those first few months were focused on preparations. In order to get an air operator certificate (AOC), we needed to produce comprehensive operations manuals for obtaining the AOC and training staff.
“Our initial goal was to launch the airline in early 2020. Our timeline was
derailed by COVID-19, but this unique window also created an exciting opportunity for us. Before COVID-19, we were looking to acquire fifteenyear-old aircraft, but the delay meant there were a lot more newer aircraft lying around and struggling to find a new home. As a result, we were able to access the latest generation of the Airbus A320 family aircraft.
“Our long-term goal was always to acquire new generation aircraft, but we didn’t foresee having access to them so quickly. From the get-go, we were able to use aircraft that are 14% more fuel efficient compared to the previous generation.”
While COVID-19 may have disrupted PLAY’s launch plans, Andri stresses that the time was valuable nonetheless.
4
“Our long-term goal was always to acquire new generation aircraft, but we didn’t foresee having access to them so quickly”
Andri Eyjolfsson
5
“In the next five years, we want to have somewhere between 18 and 20 aircraft while remaining very competitive on costs”
“We spent a lot of time fine-tuning our procedures and setting up our infrastructure and systems,” Andri says. “In April 2021, we signed the
lease for our first three aircraft. Then in May of that year, we got our AOC and launched our ticket sales. Our first commercial flight was on June 24, 2021. It was amazing seeing the first aircraft take off full of passengers after everything we went through.”
What made the milestone even more incredible was knowing PLAY had been built by such a small team.
“PLAY’s founding group was less than ten people,” Andri says. “We all had aviation experience, and knew how to run an airline, but we didn’t have the financial backing behind us. We just had the idea.”
6
Securing this financial backing, Andri explains, was aided by the emergence of COVID-19.
“COVID-19 created an opportunity for us to fully negotiate aircraft on competitive prices,” says Andri. “Everything in the aviation industry was stalled, so we were able to get all of our infrastructure in place, present it to the investors and explain that everything is ready, we just need the funding. Initially, we got a small team of investors to put forward $57m, with the intent that a month later we would commence operations and have an IPO and get listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. From there, we raised an additional $35m.”
Since this first flight just three years ago, PLAY has grown from three aircraft to ten, and as of April 2022 has begun coordinating flights to North America. In order to keep flights full, PLAY operates a hub and spoke model.
“A typical day for PLAY would be all ten aircraft departing in the morning to Europe,” says Andri. “Then they’re back in Iceland by the afternoon. Five of the aircraft will then go to North America, while the other five go to leisure destinations such as the Spanish Peninsula.
“Introducing North American flights has been a huge transformation phase for the airline. Flying from Iceland to Europe point to point is far less complicated than flying
from a European country, connecting passengers in Iceland and then flying to the US. Operating that kind of network has a lot of complexity to it.”
But the company is clearly operating this network successfully, having recently won several awards, including Start-up Airline of the Year 2022 (CAPA awards) and Northern Europe's best low-cost airline (the World Airline Awards).
Andri credits this success to the company culture.
“Culture is key,” says Andri. “With a healthy culture, anything is possible. PLAY has invested heavily in company culture over the years. We’ve enrolled most of the managers into a
7
leadership programme. The goal was to develop a more conscious strategic leadership, and that’s been very successful.
“We’ve also held company-wide workshops involving everyone where we focus on building a good culture, and we talk about the company’s strategy to make sure everyone is aligned. We also do a lot of employee satisfaction surveys, where we measure employee engagement.
Morale is good, and it shines through –
“Lundin has been with us from the start and really adapted their programme to our needs”
which is important because people are key. You’re only as good as the team you have around you.”
But to enable this team to build significant growth, the company has invested in several robust software support systems, such as Gannet from Lundin.
“An aircraft has 3,500 maintenance tasks that need to be performed at certain intervals, and 6,000 parts can need to be installed,” says Andri. “We use a maintenance software called Gannet from Lundin. This software takes all the aircraft’s technical complexities into a simple view where it’s easy for the engineer to make decisions and schedule maintenance. Lundin has been with us from the start and really adapted their programme to our needs.”
Looking ahead, Andri shares clear plans for the future at PLAY. “We have a 2029 vision,” he says. “In the next five years, we want to have somewhere between 18 and 20 aircraft while remaining very competitive on costs. From a financial standpoint, we want to have our EBIT margins above 10%. We already have over 40% of the market share in Iceland, in less than two full years of operating. My wish is that in 2029, we will be the leading Icelandic airline.”
Learn more about PLAY here.
Added Value
Building a robust team
“I hire people that are smarter than myself and like my decisions being challenged and discussed,” says Andri. In the last two years, this mindset has added a lot of value to my professional life.”
Work life balance
“I have a girlfriend and two wonderful daughters,” says Andri. “Outside of work I just enjoy the time I can spend with my family, and I think that time is really important. It’s easy to get wrapped up in always being the corporate version of yourself, but I think it’s important to maintain that balance. If you have a strong support system at home, it makes you far more likely to be successful in your professional life.”
Connect with Andri
9
10 www.flyplay.com