Review of Play flight from Paris to Reykjavík in Economy

Icelandair's first low-cost competitor was Iceland Express from 2002 to 2012; the second one was Wow Air from 2012 and 2019 and the third one is Play which had its first flight in June 2021. These three airlines differ from each other quite a lot. Iceland Express' weakest point was its mixed fleet (A320s, B737s, MD82 and MD90) operated by other companies. Wow Air was strong in marketing but weak in customer service, was trying to grow too fast and was pretty much a one man show. Play has just started its operations. The common point for all three of them is that they fly more or less the same routes as Icelandair. We know that low-cost airlines that usually fly routes for which they don't have a direct competition such as Ryanair or Wizzair make more profit while other low-cost airlines that try to compete with traditional airlines on high-frequency routes have more difficulties.

Play currently offers flights from Keflavík to Alicante, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, London Stansted, Paris CDG and Tenerife South.

I was flying from Paris to Iceland on 9th September. There were three direct flights this day: Play for €87 excluding check-in luggage or seat selection and two Icelandair flights, both of them for €270 one-way (also excluding check-in luggage or seat selection). Icelandair's business class was €560 one-way. I like Icelandair's business class but this was just too much so this was a good opportunity to try the new Icelandic airline.

Play uses Terminal 2B at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle. I used to use this terminal a lot many years ago when I lived in Paris and it was not very modern at that time but now it has been nicely renovated.

There was no line at the check-in desk so I was checked in very quickly. All passengers must check in at the airport now in order to have their covid-related documents checked.

I went to the Starbucks "lounge".

The boarding area was nice and not crowded.

A distant view of the aircraft.

There were few passengers, mostly French tourists visiting Iceland. Boarding was very quick.

A closer view of the plane from the bridge.

The interior was nice and in very good condition.

I reserved seat 15D for €28. I had more legroom than I would have had in Icelandair's business class.

Rows 15 to 17.

Seats 15ABC. I later moved to seat 15C and I had all three seats to myself.

Load was only about 40%.

Push-back was on-time at 12.30. Take-off was at 12.45.

There's a BoB (Buy on board) service. The choice is very minimalist and the airline clearly does not aim to offer high quality food. This is clearly a difference compared to what Icelandair offers for sale on board.

I had Appelsín (Iceland's Fanta), a vegan wrap (there was no wrap with meat and both sandwiches on offer were with mayo) and Pringles.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. I enjoyed reading one of the many books I had bought in Paris.

Some nice views as we were approaching Keflavík Airport.

We landed on time in nice weather.

Deplaning was quick with the low number of passengers on this flight.

The checked in luggage arrived quickly.

My vaccination certificate and recent negative covid test were checked after getting the luggage and before leaving the terminal building.

Thank you for reading my flight report and please feel free to comment.