A new survey conducted by Icelandair has revealed a significant rise in interest for stopover flights among transatlantic flyers. The survey, which polled over 7,000 passengers, showed over a third (34%) of travellers are now interested in booking an extended stopover, a 70% percentage increase since 2019.
The survey results indicate that travellers are increasingly looking towards stopover flights as a way to see more of the world for less.
With stopover flights, passengers can break up long-haul journeys and spend a few days exploring a new destination before continuing on to their final destination.
Icelandair’s survey showed that 50% of business travellers and 34% of leisure travellers asked are now open to stopovers.
For leisure travellers, this might be driven by a renewed openness to explore and travel. While for business travellers, this may be due to wanting to make the most of their work trip by extending it to allow for leisure activities.
According to the research, 68% of business travellers have extended a work trip by one or more days for leisure in the last five years.
66% of travellers now want to see the Northern Lights
The growing popularity of Icelandic stopovers may be driven by a renewed interest to explore Iceland’s many natural wonders. 66% of travellers now want to see the Northern Lights over well-known sights like The Great Barrier Reef and Machu Picchu, and 54% want to visit The Blue Lagoon, Iceland’s famous geothermal spa.
Interest in visiting global sights
The survey found that stopovers are becoming increasingly popular with millennials and budget-conscious travellers looking to maximise their travel experiences.
Gísli Brynjólfsson, Director of Global Marketing at Icelandair, said:
“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of transatlantic flyers looking to add stopovers to their journeys. Stopovers have the benefit of allowing flyers to visit two locations for one airfare, and when flying Icelandair you can choose to add a one- to seven-day stopover in Iceland at no additional cost. Not only is Iceland ideally located on the transatlantic route, but it’s home to natural wonders such as the Northern Lights and geothermal baths, which stopover travelers can experience as an added bonus to all that their final destination has to offer.”
