{"id":187732,"date":"2026-05-09T02:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/187732\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T02:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:37:24","slug":"reykjavik-calling-nonstop-connection-from-pittsburgh-to-iceland-facilitates-transatlantic-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/187732\/","title":{"rendered":"Reykjav\u00edk Calling: Nonstop Connection from Pittsburgh to Iceland Facilitates \u201cTransatlantic Marathon\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Keflavik,,iceland,<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s nonstop connection to Iceland is back in time for the summer travel season \u2014 and this year, it\u2019s helping to facilitate a transatlantic marathon.<\/p>\n

On Friday, May 8, Icelandair resumed its seasonal nonstop flights between Pittsburgh and Reykjavik for the third consecutive year. The airline will offer up to four flights a week to the Icelandic capital, with nonstop service running through Oct. 18.<\/p>\n

Since launching service between Pittsburgh and Reykjavik in 2024, Icelandair has become a key carrier connecting the region\u2019s business and leisure travelers to Iceland and over 25 connecting markets throughout Europe. Icelandair also offers its unique stopover option allowing travelers connecting to and from Europe to book a layover in Iceland for up to seven days at no additional cost, according to Blue Sky News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This year, marathon runners who participated in the Pittsburgh Marathon in May will also have the opportunity to join Iceland\u2019s big race later in the summer, thanks to a new partnership<\/a> made possible by Icelandair\u2019s nonstop service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Held annually, the \u00cdslandsbanki Reykjav\u00edk Marathon, scheduled for Aug. 22, is Iceland\u2019s largest running event and often coincides with the city\u2019s Culture Night. Featuring a variety of races and events, including a full marathon, half-marathon, 10K and fun run, it attracts about 16,000 international participants to its scenic, generally flat city course each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt our core, both marathons are about bringing people together, encouraging healthy lifestyles, and creating moments that stay with runners long after they cross the finish line,\u201d Hrefna Hl\u00edn Sveinbj\u00f6rnsd\u00f3ttir, race director of the \u00cdslandsbanki Reykjav\u00edk Marathon, says in a statement.<\/p>\n

The partnership was officially launched in January; in a statement, P3R, the group that organizes the Pittsburgh Marathon, says it invites runners to \u201cexperience two distinctly different, yet equally unforgettable, destinations through the shared passion of running.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Pittsburgh\u2019s hills, yellow bridges and unique neighborhood character to Iceland\u2019s comparatively flat plateaus, colorful streets, coastal views and dramatic natural landscapes, the two \u201csister marathons\u201d aim to inspire runners to explore the world \u2014 one finish line at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor runners who love to travel, this partnership opens the door to unforgettable, bucket-list experiences, offering two very different races that showcase the heart, character and beauty of their cities,\u201d Troy Schooley, P3R CEO, says in a statement. \u201cBoth marathons are powered by their communities, and this collaboration allows us to highlight the people, neighborhoods and volunteers who make race day special in Pittsburgh and Reykjav\u00edk.\u201d<\/p>\n

As sister marathons, the two events will collaborate on destination-driven storytelling, highlight runners traveling between Pittsburgh and Iceland and explore curated travel opportunities that encourage participants to \u201cRun Pittsburgh, Experience Reykjav\u00edk\u201d \u2014 and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Jerad Bachar, VisitPITTSBURGH president and CEO, noted Icelandair\u2019s nonstop service between Pittsburgh and Reykjavik was vital to the partnership between races, and to the shared goal of driving tourism in both cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership marks a significant milestone in P3R\u2019s efforts to grow the Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon\u2019s global footprint and further drive its economic impact on our region,\u201d he says in a statement. \u201cBy leveraging the convenient connectivity of the Icelandair direct flight, we look forward to welcoming more global athletes and spectators to experience the very best of Pittsburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Icelandair resuming seasonal service to Reykjavik comes weeks after British Airways increased its London-Heathrow nonstop flights, returning to its daily flight schedule for the summer, and as PIT readies to welcome Aer Lingus\u2019 new four times weekly service to Dublin, Ireland, launching May 25. The airport now boasts its largest schedule of flights to Europe since 2018.\u00a0\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOTO COURTESY OF SHUTTERSTOCK Pittsburgh\u2019s nonstop connection to Iceland is back in time for the summer travel season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49909,83750,83751,73,75,6846,9155,74,81197,4491],"class_list":["post-187732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-iceland","tag-icelandair","tag-islandsbanki-reykjavik-marathon","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-international-airport","tag-pittsburgh-marathon","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-reykjavik","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}