Review of Play flight Paris Reykjavík in Economy

Airline Play
Flight OG401
Class Economy
Seat 15C
Aircraft Airbus A321neo
Flight time 03:35
Take-off 09 Sep 21, 12:30
Arrival at 09 Sep 21, 14:05
OG 4 reviews
bldavid
By GOLD 6467
Published on 17th September 2021

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.


photo 01

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.


photo 02photo 03

I went to the Starbucks "lounge".


photo 04

The boarding area was nice and not crowded.


photo 07

A distant view of the aircraft.


photo 08

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

A closer view of the plane from the bridge.


photo 09

The interior was nice and in very good condition.


photo 10

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


photo 11

Rows 15 to 17.


photo 12

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


photo 13

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.


photo 20

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.


photo 21photo 22

We landed on time in nice weather.


photo 23

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

The checked in luggage arrived quickly.


photo 24

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.


See more

Verdict

Play

6.0/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew6.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Buy-on-board menu5.0

Paris - CDG

8.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access6.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness10.0

Reykjavík - KEF

8.3/10
Efficiency10.0
Access5.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

The new Icelandic airline Play offers low rates on routes that are also offered by Icelandair. The cabin on this flight was nice; there were few passengers; the cabin crew was not very communicative; the on-board food selection was limited; and the flight was on time. This flight was altogether a pleasant experience.

Information on the route Paris (CDG) Reykjavík (KEF)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 28 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Paris (CDG) → Reykjavík (KEF).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Icelandair avec 7.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 3 heures et 33 minutes.

  More information

5 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 580994 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6658 Comments
    Hi David, great report and nice to see a review on PLAY! The ex-InterJet cabin is super spacious and the seats looks really comfortable with thick padding. BOB is average, but it seems PLAY is aiming to be a standard LCC and not overly ambitious like WOW was in its past life. Seems like a good option to/from Iceland and competition is always good!

    Thanks so much for sharing!
    • Comment 588370 by
      bldavid GOLD AUTHOR 304 Comments
      Hi KévinDC and thank you for your comment. Hopefully Play will offer more and more destinations from/to KEF. A new flight to LIS should be available from next summer - a good opportunity to travel from KEF to FNC/PDL/RAI/OXB/TMS with one easy connection.
  • Comment 581008 by
    Leadership TEAM BRONZE 5458 Comments
    Thank you David for posting the first report on this new Icelandic LCC.
    Surprisingly, the cabin is very spacious with it's generous seat pitch inherited from Interjet, I guess they may soon retrofit it to a more dense version.
    Not impressed by the bob though, limited options and pricey.
    I just don't understand how FI can afford such prices, are they full?
    See you
    • Comment 588371 by
      bldavid GOLD AUTHOR 304 Comments
      Hi Leadership and thank you for your comment. Yes, the BoB has very limited options. Yes, Icelandair is expensive yet their flights are often full, mostly with Americans travelling to Europe.
  • Comment 584478 by
    Plane_orly SILVER 276 Comments
    Thank you for reporting this new airline ! But it's not an A321 but an A321neo !

    See you

Login to post a comment.