Icelandair to re-organize in Scandinavia

    REYKJAVÍK: Icelandair  announced re-organization of  its Scandinavian
marketing and sales organization. The main emphasis of the re-organization
is, according to an Icelandair statement, to develop the key strategic areas
of e-commerce and branding with dedicated resources.
Furthermore, Icelandair wants to increase sales coverage in the respective
local markets based on a clear segmentation between Leisure and Business
sales.
Finally, the goal is to increase overall efficiency by combining call center
and back offices functions for Sweden, Denmark and Norway in one location.
Icelandair is recognized as being on the leading edge among airlines in
using the Internet and is already selling a significant portion of its
tickets via the Net, according to a statement from the company.
Icelandair expects that 50 per cent of its tickets will be sold via the
Internet by 2003:
'We need to prepare for this by building the right organization to achieve
this and being able to handle it efficiently,' says Steinn Logi Björnsson,
Senior Vice President of Marketing
and Sales. 'Icelandair was the first airline to offer an Internet version of
the Amadeus booking engine on the web site and has recently introduced
Amadeus v.5 booking engine where our customers can book flights, hotels and
cars online. Furthermore, last January, Icelandair was the first airline to
enable WAP bookings via the Web site using the Amadeus engine.'
Steinn Logi Björnsson adds:
'In  order to make full use of the opportunities presented by the changes in
the market and the know-how in the company in an efficient and powerful
manner, Icelandair will concentrate the efforts for Norway, Sweden and
Denmark from one location in Copenhagen, where a new Scandinavian
Internet/e-commerce department will be established.'

Hannes Hilmarsson
An integral part of this plan is to establish a new marketing department in
Copenhagen in order to strengthen Icelandair's brand awareness in the three
Scandinavian countries.
The new marketing department will be Icelandair's brand promoter in the
region and coordinate advertising efforts, pricing matters and other
marketing activities in the three Scandinavian countries where clear synergy
can be achieved with coordinated effort.
'The local sales presence in Norway, Sweden and Denmark will then be
increased with better field sales coverage and stronger segment focus
between business sales and leisure sales,' Icelandair states.
Finally, to gain more efficiency in its Scandinavian operation, Icelandair
plans to establish own reservation call center in Copenhagen servicing
Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
General management and administration for Scandinavia will also be located
in Copenhagen for same reasons.
The new sales and marketing organization for Scandinavia is expected to be
operational by 1 December 2000.
Hannes Hilmarsson, Icelandair's General Manager UK and Ireland, has been
appointed as a General Manager for the new Scandinavian Sales and Marketing
organization.
Stefán Eyjólfsson, currently Director Revenue Management, will take over as
General  Manager UK and Ireland
Ársæll  Harðarson, General Manager Denmark, has decided to leave Icelandair.
He plans to join a new venture capital company in Copenhagen.
Knut Berg, General Manager Norway, will retire beginning of next year.
Harald Rytz, present General Manager Sweden, will join the new sales and
marketing  organization in Copenhagen.
No changes will be made to the Finland sales region with the exception that
it will take over marketing and sales responsibilities in Baltic States and
Russia. Pekka Mäkinen will remain General Manager Finland in the enlargened
Finland sales region.

Head Office
Several organizational changes have been made in Sales and Marketing at the
head office in  Reykjavik:
Marinó Einarsson, currently Director Sales Planning and Control, will lead a
new department responsible for revenue management, pricing and interline rel
ations.
Karen Mogensen will remain as Manager Revenue Management while Anita
Knútsdóttir, currently Manager Training,  will assume the position of
Manager Fares.
Gunnar Már Sigurfinnsson, currently Sales Manager in Germany, will  take
over as Director  Sales Planning and Control. (A new name has not been named
for Gunnar's position in Frankfurt.)
Birna Garðarsdóttir, currently Assistant to SVP Sales and Marketing, takes
over as Manager Training.
Kolbeinn  Arinbjarnarson, currently Director Marketing, has left Icelandair
and assumed the postition of General Manager of Destal, a new company owned
by Icelandair. The company has launched a web solution which offers a unique
and simple way for travellers to organize, book and pay for complex travel
arrangements from their homes.
Stephanie Smith, currently Manager Scheduling, will take over as Director
Network Management, a new division within Sales and Marketing, and will be
responsible for the route network, schedule and feasibility studies on
individual legs in Icelandair network.
Árni Sigurðsson, Director Distribution, will take on additional
responsibilities. He will be responsible for all distribution channels in
the Icelandair sales network, including the Internet, Amadeus, etc.
In line with  increasing focus on e-commerce, the department will exploit
the latest technology to enhance efficiency in distribution, e. g. in
issuing tickets and other travel documents.
Furthermore a new Sales Manager for the Iceland sales region, Birkir Hólm
Guðnason, has been appointed. He takes over from Halldór Bachmann who has
taken over the position of Manager Business Development at Icelandair
Loyalty Programmes.
Finally, Elín Brynjólfsdóttir has been appointed Manager in Saga Boutique.
(NTJ)