St. Louis is about to have one of the easiest hops to Europe in the US Midwest. Icelandair will launch non-stop flights between St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) and Reykjavik's Keflavik Airport (KEF), running seasonally from May 14 to October 24, 2027. Flights will operate three to four times a week — on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

For Missouri travellers, this is a big deal. Until now, reaching Iceland or connecting onward to Europe from St. Louis has usually meant a connecting flight through a coastal hub. A non-stop to Reykjavik cuts hours off the trip and puts Icelandair's network of European cities within a single stop — Reykjavik's Keflavik is designed as a transfer point, so you can land from St. Louis and be on a short hop to London, Paris, Amsterdam or Copenhagen the same day.

There's a second layer to the announcement. Icelandair is deepening its partnership with Southwest Airlines, which happens to be the largest carrier at St. Louis Lambert. In practical terms, that means travellers from other Southwest-served cities can connect through St. Louis onto Icelandair's transatlantic service — one itinerary, checked through, without the usual separate-booking hassle. Expect Southwest's domestic network to feed this route from across the central and southern US.

Icelandair also confirmed the return of its non-stop Madrid–Reykjavik service for next year. It restarts April 9 and runs through October 25, flying two to three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. That's a useful pairing for anyone eyeing a two-country trip: Iceland's volcanoes and waterfalls one leg, Spanish tapas and museums the other, with the connection handled by the same airline.

Why should this matter to you? If you live anywhere near St. Louis, it's a rare chance to fly to Europe without backtracking through Chicago, New York or the coasts. And if Iceland itself is the goal, the May-through-October window covers the country's best travel season — long summer daylight, accessible highland roads and mild weather for the Ring Road. Book early if you want the cheapest seats; new transatlantic routes from mid-sized US cities often start with introductory fares that disappear as the schedule fills.

The route is seasonal, so winter travellers are out of luck for now — though that does mean the aurora-seeking crowd may have to wait and see whether Icelandair extends or repeats the service in future years.