Icelandair Is Now Southwest's First Airline Partner

DALLAS — Icelandair (FI) and Southwest Airlines (WN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to start a bilateral partnership in 2025. The partnership will allow customers to easily connect between the two airlines’ networks.

Southwest's first airline parter stets that more attention on airline alliances helps it to expand its market and strengthen its whole route network, which presently consists of 34 destinations in Europe and 17 in North America, including Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), the first North American gateway between FI and WN.

The partnership update comes on the same day WN unveiled several actions it is taking to strengthen the company amid activist investor pushback.

Southwest's transformation plan includes:

1. Global airline partnerships, starting with FI: WN intends to add at least one additional partner carrier next year.
2. "Getaways by Southwest," a new vacation package product launching in 2025: Vacation packages that come with "friendly policies."
3. Enhancements to the Rapid Rewards loyalty program: Members will earn and redeem points at the same rate that they do today, and WN will continue "to offer no blackout dates, uncapped reward seat availability, and points that don’t expire."

Comments from Airline Partners

Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair President and CEO, stated via a press release, “We are very excited to add Southwest to our impressive partnership portfolio and are honored to be chosen as their initial airline partner. The partnership will unlock many exciting travel options for our customers, and our extensive network in Europe will open for Southwest customers.  As part of our strategic focus on expanding our global partnership network, we seek out airlines known for exceptional service and connectivity.  We welcome Southwest as a partner and look forward to working together to make the journeys of our mutual passengers smooth and enjoyable.”

Ryan Green, Southwest Executive Vice President, Commercial Transformation, said, “Icelandair will become our initial partner through a shared focus on warm Hospitality and value in air travel that both carriers strive to offer, enabling Southwest to further our global reach beyond the nearly 120 destinations we serve in North America. We’re grateful for the mutual confidence and enthusiasm that’s built a bridge between our two great airlines and aims to serve our Customers and those of Icelandair on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Southwest has historically had no formal airline partners or alliances, distinguishing it from many other major carriers. Moreover, before today, WN was one of the few major airlines without any airline partners or membership in an airline alliance. This meant that customers could not earn Rapid Rewards points when flying with other airlines, nor could they transfer points to other airline programs.

Now, WN customers will have access to FI’s 34 European destinations while Europeans will have more access to WN’s 120 US destinations.