Icelandair has unveiled a newly designed aircraft with ice cave-like interior and special livery inspired by Europe’s largest glacier.
The new aircraft is part of the airline’s transatlantic fleet providing passengers with an “experience” of the Vatnajökull ice cap.
All Icelandair planes are named after Icelandic volcanoes and this special livery joins the Hekla Aurora, created in 2015 and inspired by the northern lights, as the second hand crafted piece of artwork to adorn one of their fleet.
Icelandair commissioned this plane as part of their celebrations for their 80th anniversary this year. The plane is being spray painted by hand, that will take 24 days to complete using 195 litres of paint. It takes 1062 litres to cover the entire plane, which is over 200 domestic size tins.
The new Vatnajökull plane also features LED blue lighting in the main cabin, the headrests will have an ice white and turquoise design and the drinks trolley will be “transformed into a mini ice cave”.
The Vatnajökull glacier is the most active in Iceland with around 60 eruptions over the last 800 years, not surprising seeing as it has three active volcanoes beneath its surface: Öræfajökull, Báròarbunga and Grímsvötn. It covers an area of 8100-8300 sq km, 8% of the country’s land mass and is considered to be one of the seven natural wonders of Europe.
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