Icelandair is to increase its seat capacity by 11.5% next year as it continues to build up its network linking Europe and North America.

The carrier is adding two new destinations in the US next year, Philadelphia and Tampa, which will take its number of North American routes up to 18 flying through its Reykjavik hub.

Icelandair will begin flying to Philadelphia on May 30, 2017 and the service will initially run as a summer-only route which will operate until September 20, 2017. If it is successful, the route may eventually become year-round.

Tampa will be added as a new destination from September 7, 2017, operating twice per week, and will complement the existing Orlando route, which runs five times per week. Both services will operate year-round from next September when there will be a daily service from Iceland to Florida.

The airline also serves 26 destinations in Europe including Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and Helsinki.

Gudmundur Thordarson, regional manager Scandinavia:

“We are constantly looking at routes into Europe, although Europe is quite well covered already. We are looking at growth of 11.5% in terms of seats. This is mostly through added frequencies – new destinations only account for about 1% or 2% of this growth.”

Icelandair is also promoting stopovers in Iceland for European passengers as consumer interest in the north Atlantic destination grows.