Shares begin to trade for Icelandic start-up airline Play
New low-cost Icelandic airline Play’s shares have this morning begun to trade on the country’s stock market, following the carrier’s recent successful float.
To mark the moment, chief executive Birgir Jonsson rang the bell for the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Iceland at 12,000 feet.
The start of trading comes just two weeks after the airline completed its first ever flight, from Reykjavik to London Stansted.
Play currently has a fleet of two aircraft, and will add a third later this summer.
Its IPO was more than eight times oversubscribed, the carrier said, in a vote of confidence in the new venture, which launched amid what has been called the “worst crisis in airline history”.
Jonsson said: “After a successful IPO, our inaugural flight and now trading of our shares, these past few weeks will be remembered for a long time here at Play.
“Our staff has worked wonders and we are well prepared to maximise the opportunities post-Covid. I think we can be allowed a little optimism now that we can start rebuilding Iceland’s aviation and tourism sectors.”