We’ve got some good news for Icelanders who like it hot, and for Floridians who wouldn’t mind a bit of fresh air: This October, Iceland Express starts flying to Florida from Reykjavík. (And back.)

This first run is going to be a short one, with the maiden flight on 2 October and the last scheduled flight 23 October. One flight a week, on Saturdays, with possibilities of connecting with Copenhagen and London via Iceland.

Oh, and in other America-related news — our New York flights have been pretty successful so far, and we’ve decided to extend that route an extra two months, until the end of October.

So, Tony and Mickey — you know where to book your flight to Iceland.

The boys from For A Minor Reflection have recently toured the UK, and supported a well-known band of folk musicians across Europe and America. Not bad if you’re barely out of high-school.

But their talent belies their age, and the general opinion of the Very Important Music Press is that they’re very good indeed, and should be high on your list of bands to tell other pale and interesting people about in dingy indie clubs this weekend.

According to our resident specialist, their sound falls into the category of “post-rock” which apparently means they don’t use vocals and their tracks are very long and progressive. (But, he adds, “thankfully not in that annoying Emerson, Lake & Palmer kind of way!”)

For A Minor Reflection release that difficult second album soon, and will probably play in a town near you this year. (Note that the accuracy of this prediction may wary depending on your physical location.) If not, you’ll probably be able to catch them at Iceland Airwaves 2010. (They were a resounding hit in 2009.)

Previously on Icelandic Music 101: Sprengjuhöllin, FM Belfast, Ghostigital, Gus Gus, Jeff Who?, Amiina and Múm.

More Reflection! Myspace | Wikipedia | YouTube | Flickr | Facebook

To Reykjavík:
from London Gatwick, Copenhagen, Berlin or Warsaw

Prices from: €89, £79, DKK 690, one-way including taxes and fees

Fly: From today until 31 May 2010

Buy: Open for sale now until 13 April 2010

The small print: Limited availability, first come, first served.

Click here to book

The typically quiet hiking grounds between two Icelandic glaciers began throwing a bit of a hissy-fit around midnight on 20 March 2010. One that involves lava.

The late night eruption was originally thought to be centred beneath something called “Eyjafjallajökull,” a glacier harder to spell than to climb.

The idea of a flood from the melting glacier made scientists and rebuilding contractors very excited, more so than the inhabitants.

However, as soon as they had been whisked away it was discovered that the eruption is actually in Fimmvörðuháls, alleviating at least some cause for concern.

We say “some” because when this is written, the ground is actually still spewing molten lava and fire and poisonous ash is still raining from the heavens.

Some folks find this disconcerting.

Others (including some of our friends in the travel industry) find it very interesting. Reports are uploaded to the Internets in real time, and webcams are poised so that would-be volcanologists and run-of-the-mill volcanic voyeurs can get their fix without leaving the comfortable, searing-hot-lava-free surroundings of their own home.

As we may have mentioned a few times already, we become an actual transatlantic airline when we add New York City to our schedule this summer. Later we even added Winnipeg in Oh, Canada.

As we may also have mentioned a few times, this means that you can actually fly with us from Europe to North-America (and the other way around) without ever setting foot on Icelandic soil. Just a rather nice airport in the middle of an Icelandic lava field.

But if you’re here anyway, why not stop over look around? After all, there are plenty of things to do and places to see.

So here is what we cooked up: In a few days you’ll be able to book a transatlantic flight (between New York or Winnipeg on one hand, and London, Berlin, Warsaw, Copenhagen Oslo, and many other places in Europe) and get a free extra night at a Reykjavík hotel if you want.

The small print? Well, there is practically no small print. The price of your flight stays the same and you will get a good hotel (we promise) in the center of Reykjavík. Only thing is that you have to book it on exactly this page here, and it’s not quite ready yet. But if you leave your email with us there we’ll notify you when this thing goes on sale.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to stay longer, you can get as many extra nights as you like for about €65 (about $90) pr night.

Now, just form an orderly queue and click here to read more about the stopover deal.

Saying the Atlantic Halibut is a “large fish” is like saying Lady Gaga occasionally likes dressing up. Even its latin name (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) is unusually descriptive.

But that’s basically what it is — an overgrown, obese and somewhat mottled-finned creature with a mouth like a bucket and the combined appetites of Johns Candy and Belushi.

Found throughout Iceland’s seas, this king-sized flatfish grows to over 400kg and can measure over 15-feet long. Being that big, it takes considerable skill and time to land but once on shore you’ll have enough sushi to open your very own chain of edgy fusion restaurants in 101 Reykjavik.

Being the biggest fish in town does have its disadvantages, in that everyone wants to catch you. Both commercial and sport fishermen value the fish highly and Icelandic singer-slash-songwriter Hafdis Huld even wrote a song about getting your picture in the local paper by catching a giant fish. So it’s safe to conclude that landing one of these leviathans is a popular thing to do, even if you have to overcome some obstacles.

The Atlantic Halibut’s numbers have been suffering in recent years due to over-fishing so many are now returned from whence they came, rather than being served up with a plate of chips for dinner. This is good news for Iceland’s biggest native fish but bad news for just about everything else in the sea — the halibut isn’t a fussy or selective diner.

So hopefully those edgy fusion restaurants won’t start springing up just yet. Oh, hang on …

Earlier in this exciting series: The Wolf Fish!

More Atlantic Halibut: Wikipedia | Flickr | YouTube | Google Image Search

To Reykjavík:
from Berlin, Copenhagen, London (Gatwick + Stansted) and Warsaw

Prices from: €69, £55, DKK 530, one-way including taxes and fees

Fly: From today until 15 December 2009

Buy: Open for sale now until midnight tomorrow (or, if you prefer, 23.59 on Friday 20 November)

The small print: Limited availability, first come, first served. And remember to send your mother a post card

Click here to book

You remember Iceland Airwaves, right? The music festival where everyone stopped wearing trucker caps way before they became unfashionable? It’s been happening in Reykjavík in October for years now and everyone is awfully excited about it. To quote a close source, “aside from the great music, the whole city behaves like its Christmas, New Years, and your best friend’s wedding all rolled into one.”

This year there will be all sorts of really cool, alphabetically ordered Icelandic bands like Agent Fresco, Berndsen, Cliff Clavin, Dikta, Esja, FM Belfast, Gus Gus — you get it. (And by the way, we didn’t make up any of those names.)

There are probably also some really good foreign bands but we seem to have completely forgotten their names.

(A loveable Icelandic–music nerd friend of ours has a good preview of the whole thing here and here. And if you promise to cover the parts of the screen where they have the Icelandair ads, we’ll let you read all about the festival on the Airwaves Website.)

Anyway, they say it’s all sold out but our heroic marketing department actually got hold of two of those magic wristbands that will get you in anywhere.

So here’s the deal: We are going to give away those two Iceland Airwaves passes (valid for all concerts), along with return flights for two from London, Copenhagen or Berlin. And should you choose to sleep or take the occasional shower, we will provide you with a place to do that too.

What you need to do is simply tell us why you want to come.

We’ll try to pick the one who has the cutest Facebook profile photo best reason and seems like he or she who would enjoy it the most.

Some hints: There are no hints. Just be, you know, like, honest. You can do that, right?

Got it? Okay, good. Now go to our Facebook page and tell us tell us all about it.

* The small print: If you’re in London or Copenhagen you can fly in on 14, 15 or 16 October, and back on 19 or 20 October. If you’re in Berlin you can fly in on 16 October and back on 19 October. You’ll be staying at one of the three very nice Center Hotels the whole time, but please, no flirting with the staff, okay? We’ll announce who wins on Monday 12 October, so you’ll have some time to pack, but no trucker caps, please.

Okay, listen to this: Starting next summer you can fly with Iceland Express without actually planning to spend time in Iceland.

(Not that we’d mind of course — you’re always welcome to stop by for a sip of Brennvín.)

But you see, that’s when we add New York to our list of destinations.

And that means you’ll be able to fly with Iceland Express to New York from Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Oslo, Aalborg, Gothenburg, Billund, Warsaw, Cracow and Luxembourg (and back) — with an optional quick stop in Reykjavík for a dip in the Blue Lagoon with your new best Icelandic friends.

The price of these transatlantic flights varies a bit depending on the airports, but the cheapest flights are all in the range of £163–250, €185–267, $261–390 and DKK 1384–2040. (Just remember that the earlier you book, the better price you get.

As we think we mentioned earlier, all of this just went on sale, so you really should book your next flight to New York now.