Flights from YHM to Europe begin this June for approximately $600 round trip. Photo credit: CNW Group/Play
Play Airlines, a low-cost airline based in Iceland, is launching flights from Hamilton to Europe this June. Its website is already open for booking, with the first flight service from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) scheduled for June 22, 2023.
Tickets are approximately $600 round trip, although they do not include baggage fees. There is also a special promotion on now for 13 destinations, including Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Gothenburg, London, and Paris.
From now until January 31 flights to those 13 locations, when scheduled between August and October 2023, are about $400 round trip.
All flights include stopovers, of varying lengths, in Iceland. Flights to Europe with other airlines are typically around $1,000 round trip. Play Airlines flies to 26 European destinations.
While there is no in-flight magazine, no Wifi on planes, and no in-flight entertainment, Play Airlines says that their business model allows travellers to “pay less and play more.”
“Passengers can instead allocate their budget to meaningful experiences, dining, and excursions or even add a stop to another destination along the way,” reads a statement from the airline.
The airline was founded in 2019 in Reykjavik, Iceland by a management team with experience in the aviation industry. The airline operates new Airbus A321NEO and A320NEO aircraft. They flew 800,000 passengers across Europe and North America in 2022, beginning flights from Baltimore/Washington to Europe in April 2022 and Boston Logan International to Europe in May 2022.
A personal item is included with all flights, but passengers choose extras such as in-flight meals, carry-on, checked bags, extra leg room, and cancellation protection.
Hamilton’s John C. Munro Airport (YHM) will be the first Canadian airport out of which the airline will operate. To simplify things for international travellers, Hamilton International Airport is listed as “Toronto” on the Play Airlines booking site.
The new airline service at YHM is also expected to help boost Hamilton’s tourism industry.
The airline’s 26 destinations are:
Austria (1 destination): Salzburg
Belgium (1 destination): Brussels
Czech Republic (1 destination): Prague
Denmark (4 destinations): Aalborg, Aarhus, Billund, Copenhagen
England (2 destinations): Liverpool, London
France (1 destination): Paris
Germany (3 destinations): Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg
Greece (1 destination): Athens
Italy (1 destination): Bologna
Ireland (1 destination): Dublin
Poland (1 destination): Warsaw
Portugal (2 destinations): Lisbon, Porto
Spain (7 destinations): Alicante, Barcelona, Gran Canaria, Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Tenerife
Sweden (2 destinations): Gothenburg, Stockholm
Switzerland (1 destination): Geneva
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
