The outcomes include, among other things, simpler travel for Icelanders to distant destinations with Icelandic airlines, and the delegation also held useful meetings regarding Icelandic carriers’ opportunities to transport cargo abroad.

More than 600 representatives from 87 countries attended the conference, and the Icelandic delegation held bilateral meetings with those states that Icelandic airlines had emphasised the importance of reaching agreements with.

In this context, the delegation initialled a new air services agreement with Panama. Iceland’s air services agreement with the United Arab Emirates was updated, and Icelandic carriers were designated under the agreement. The delegation also held various constructive meetings, including with representatives from Kenya, Belgium and Guatemala, as well as a successful meeting with Saudi Arabia.

The delegation began negotiations on air services agreements with Ecuador, Tanzania and Haiti. An agreement was reached with Brazil on the designation of Icelandic carriers on the basis of an agreement initialled in 2010. In all of the delegation’s meetings, emphasis was placed on authorisations for codesharing and on expanded air traffic rights for Icelandic airlines.

The Icelandic delegation consisted of Sigríður Eysteinsdóttir, Head of Division and Chief Negotiator for air services agreements at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Kristín Helga Markúsdóttir, Director of the Administration Division at the Icelandic Transport Authority; and Vala Hrönn Viggósdóttir, lawyer at the Ministry of Infrastructure.