Seattle to Reykjavik: flight time, route and what changes by season

A flight time quoted for seattle to Reykjavik online often turns out to be an old schedule, or a fare from a different city entirely. The route runs on Isavia's own published block time, and it holds year round rather than only in summer. This page settles that block time, names the route's seasonal status, and lays out what to book once the plane lands at Keflavik.

What the published time actually covers

A number quoted for the seattle to Reykjavik flight time is a block time, gate to gate, not a promise of the exact minute a flight lands. Isavia publishes 7 hours 30 minutes for Seattle to Keflavik, and that figure sits at the long end of the airport's US gateways, behind only Denver at 8 hours 5 minutes.

Travelers booking from seatac to Reykjavik sometimes expect a shorter hop because Seattle sits further north than East Coast departure cities. The route is instead the second-longest of Keflavik's published US block times, well past the 5 hour 45 minute figure from New York JFK or the 5 hour 40 minute figure from Boston.

The route itself is one of the thirteen US routes on Isavia's list that runs year round rather than seasonally. That matters for anyone planning a trip outside the summer months: Detroit and Pittsburgh are summer-only routes and Miami is winter-only, but Seattle is not subject to that kind of seasonal gap.

Which carrier operates the route

A search for icelandair seattle to Reykjavik tends to assume the Icelandic carrier is the only option, and on many US routes it is: Icelandair flies 60 of the 84 destinations on Isavia's published list and carries most of Keflavik's transatlantic map. Isavia's list of North American carriers into Keflavik names Icelandair alongside Delta, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada, Air Transat and WestJet, without listing which specific carrier flies each US city.

Anyone asking how long is the flight from seattle to Reykjavik should treat 7 hours 30 minutes as the figure to plan around, published by Isavia against its own Seattle destination page. It is a westbound-and-back long-haul time from a US Pacific Northwest gateway, longer than every East Coast route on Isavia's list except Denver.

PLAY, the Icelandic low-cost carrier that once competed on transatlantic routes, ceased operations on 29 September 2025 and no longer appears on Isavia's airline list. Any route plan that still lists PLAY as an option from a US city is out of date.

Planning around a long-haul arrival

Booking seattle to Reykjavik flights means accepting a long-haul overnight arrival pattern typical of transatlantic routes from the US West Coast, since Keflavik sits roughly 7 hours 30 minutes of block time east of Seattle. That is longer than the flight from London Heathrow to Keflavik, published at 3 hours 15 minutes, which shapes how much of the first day in Iceland is usable.

Because the route runs year round, the flight itself is available regardless of season, but what a traveler does on arrival still depends on it. The Icelandic Meteorological Office publishes daylight hours that swing from 21.2 hours in June to 4.1 in December, which changes how much daylight is left after landing and clearing Keflavik.

Anyone entering Iceland on a US or UK passport for a stay under 90 days needs no visa, under the Schengen rule shared across the 29 Schengen countries, though a passport must remain valid three months beyond the departure date. The US Department of State's Iceland page sets out the current entry requirements for this route's most common travelers.

Getting from Keflavik into the city

A flight seattle to Reykjavik lands at Keflavik Airport, about 47.2 km (29.3 miles) from Reykjavik itself, a drive of roughly 47 minutes by road. The airport sits between the towns of Keflavík and Njarðvík, both part of Reykjanesbær, not inside Reykjavik proper, so onward transport is part of arrival planning rather than an afterthought.

The Flybus service runs from Keflavik to the BSÍ bus terminal in Reykjavik for a one-way fare of 3,999 ISK, taking about 45 minutes. A fixed taxi fare for one to four passengers runs 22,500 ISK with Hreyfill, the taxi cooperative, while a metered ride from another company typically costs 15,000 to 25,000 ISK.

Keflavik's most recent expansion, the East Wing, opened on 20 March 2025, adding 25,000 square metres and four new boarding bridges, a 30 percent increase in terminal size. A traveler arriving on a long-haul route from Seattle passes through this newer part of the terminal on the way to immigration and baggage claim.

Other North American carriers on the route

Alaska airlines seattle to Reykjavik service would fit a pattern seen on other Keflavik routes, where US and Canadian carriers add summer frequencies on routes Icelandair already flies. Isavia's list of carriers flying Keflavik to North America names Alaska Airlines among the seven airlines serving the continent, alongside Icelandair, Delta, United Airlines, Air Canada, Air Transat and WestJet.

Icelandair remains the hub carrier at Keflavik and the operator behind almost every North American nonstop on Isavia's list, flying 60 of the airport's 84 published destinations. A traveler comparing options out of Seattle is choosing between a route Icelandair anchors year round and any additional seasonal capacity another North American carrier adds on top of it.

Keflavik's full route map, checked against Isavia's own published list, runs 54 destinations year round, 21 summer only and 9 winter only. Seattle sits in the year-round majority rather than the seasonal minority, which keeps it available regardless of when a trip is planned.

Common questions