Air Iceland (Reykjavik Domestic) will expand its operational network across the North Atlantic Ocean into the United Kingdom during the first quarter of next year.

The carrier said in a statement that it would deploy its incoming fleet of Dash 8-400s onto a 4x weekly Reykjavik Keflavik-Aberdeen Dyce service effective March 9, 2016. The service operates on behalf of parent Icelandair (FI, Reykjavik Keflavik).

"Keflavik is the gateway to Iceland, but also offers onward travel to a wide selection of destinations, including cities in the United States of America and Canada," Scottish Minister for Transport and Islands, Derek Mackay, said. "It will bring real benefits to the business community in the North of Scotland, improving their access to international markets, and will no doubt prove popular with tourists as well."

Air Iceland is in the process of acquiring three Q400s with the first - an ex-Air Niugini (PX, Port Moresby) machine TF-FXI (cn 4033) - having been ferried to Europe last week. Once certification is complete, the carrier expects to deploy them into domestic service from December onwards.