Inaugural flight to Iceland takes roundabout route from Philly

It was an inauspicious start to Iceland Air’s renewed service from Philadelphia.  In fact, it looks like the first flight will be a day late.

Icelandair Flight 1828 departed Philadelphia Tuesday night, but was rerouted to Boston when unspecified “technical issues” occurred. Passenger Brett Slakoff told ABC news in Boston there was a strange odor throughout the flight.

“There was a weird smell when we got onto the plane,” he said. “I just equated it to the bathroom.

“Overall, it wasn’t a bad flight.  I watched a movie and, throughout the movie, I noticed we weren’t on a course to Reykjavik.”

The monitor showed the aircraft heading for Boston, but Slakoff dismissed it as a technical glitch.

“So I turned off the monitor,” he said. “About 20 minutes later, they came on and announced we were going to Boston .”

The flight has been rescheduled to leave Boston Wednesday afternoon and arrive in Iceland about 1:30 a.m. Thursday. 

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and the mayor of Reykjavik  were both on board and had to stay overnight in Boston.

Icelandair tweeted an apology for the “inconvenience” in response to a reporter on board the flight.

Kenny’s spokeswoman said it is tradition for mayors to visit each other’s cities when new international routes are established. Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson spent two days touring Philadelphia.

Kenney is to return Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.