Iceland Express resuming Winnipeg flights

Iceland Express is restoring air service to Winnipeg in June — and you could call it a Maiden voyage.

The discount airline is leasing the Boeing 757 that had been used for touring by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden — the jet still bears the band's logo — and some flights will be piloted by the band's lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, who also happens to be a commercial pilot.

Iceland Express will resume regular service between Winnipeg and Reykjavik, with same-day connections to London and Copenhagen, on June 12. 

The airline began flying to Europe and London from Winnipeg in the spring of 2010. However, the route had to be shut down a few weeks later when ash spewing from a volcano on the island nation in the North Atlantic led to numerous flight cancellations, which dried up pre-bookings for flights out of Winnipeg.