Loftleiðir HF, internationally known as Icelandic Airlines (abbreviated IAL) or Loftleiðir Icelandic, was a private Icelandic airline headquartered on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, which operated mostly trans-atlantic flights linking Europe and America, pioneering the low-cost flight business strategy on these routes. History Loftleiðir Loftleiðir (the name being a compound of the Icelandic words for Air and Way) was founded on 10 March 1944, by Alfreð Elíasson and two other young Icelandic pilots who had just returned from flight training in Canada. The first revenue flight (from Reykjavík to Ísafjörður) took place on 6 April of that year. During the initial years, only domestic routes out of Reykjavík Airport were operated using airplanes of the types Douglas DC-3, Consolidated PBY Catalina, Stinson Reliant, Grumman Goose, Noorduyn Norseman, Avro Anson and Vultee L-1 Vigilant. The first international flight (from Reykjavík to Copenhagen) using a Douglas DC-4 took place on 17 June 1947, the Icelandic National Day. Loftleiðir had expected to take delivery of the DC-4 already in 1946 (the first Icelandic airline to operate an airliner of that size and range), but the delivery was delayed because of the bankruptcy of the interior outfitter. Initially, the DC-4 was deployed on flights to Europe, as well as on chartered flights for third party companies, for example from Britain to South America. In 1948, Loftleiðir was granted governmental approval to operate passenger services to the United States of America, which were launched in August of that year when a second DC-4 joined the fleet, with New York's Idlewild Airport as first destination. In 1949 and 1950, the DC-4s were leased to U.S. carrier Seaboard & Western Airlines because of the difficult financial situation Loftleiðir was in during that period. Since Loftleiðir had launched domestic flights in the 1940s, there had been a fierce competition with Flugfélag Íslands, which had prompted the Icelandic government to divide the network between the two airlines, when the originally proposed merger had been rejected. The management of Loftleiðir claimed to have been disfavoured in this measure, and decided to cease all domestic services in 1952, fully concentrating on transatlantic flights henceforth. Typical routings at that time were from New York via Reykjavík to Hamburg or Luxembourg, with intermediate stops at Oslo, Copenhagen, Bergen, Stavanger or Gothenburg. From 1955 onwards, Luxembourg-Findel Airport was the European starting point for most of Loftleiðir's transatlantic flights. With the introduction of