About IFA

January 2025

Thanks for stopping by and taking time to read this - I'll keep it as short as possible, cause I'd rather see you enjoy flying for our Virtual Flying Club instead of reading about it.

I'm Matt. I founded IceFireAir in the fall of 2024 as a virtual airline. Having flown for a handful of VAs in the past, e.g. GerAir (retired after 20 years of operation) and Alaska Adventures (still very much alive), I decided that it was finally time to build and manage my own flavor.

Unfortunately I wasn't very successful in recruiting pilots for this VA - obviously the idea of IFA didn't really appeal to anyone, and I get it: There are thousands of VAs out there which are already established and have way more members, routes and aircraft support.

What has become successful though is the idea of making grand tours with bush flying aircraft consisting of many smaller legs (2-3 hrs) in multiplayer where anybody can join at any time. All the legs are being streamed on Twitch and the idea has slowly but steadily been gaining traction since I started it. I wonder how far this'll go.

Why the name IceFireAir?

I married my lovely wife in 2014. On our honeymoon we went on an unforgettable four weeks long trip to Iceland. We both fell in love with this incredible place, but for various reasons we've never been able to return, and it won't happen anytime soon either. FS2020 has some incredible real world map data (I can literally see and recognize my own little house from the air). I've been an avid flight simmer since the days of FS4. So I thought, why not put it all together, found a VA for others to enjoy as well, and help myself to a good dose of Icelandic Landscape, until, maybe some day, my family can go there again in the real world. Although I've given up on the idea of running a VA I'll stick to the name for the flying club, because I like it very much.

  • Ice: Iceland was called like that for a reason. The beautiful glaciers are a prominent feature of this country. Tragically, Icelands white blankets are suffering from climate change. Skaftafell Glacier, which we had the great pleasure to hike on, has shrunken significantly during the last decade. And the melting of the glaciers is accelerating at an alarming rate. See here and here. 
  • Fire: The air travel industry is affected significantly even on transcontinental routes if volcanic activity on Iceland occurs. During the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption flights had to be rerouted or cancelled. In 2023, while not severely impeding international air travel, the ongoing eruption around Reykjanes did affect at least local air traffic. So it's clear that "fire" is an element which plays a special role for pilots as they operate above Iceland.
  • Air: Carries us whereever we want to go with our planes. Nuff said.

Whether virtually or in the real world: Enjoy your time in the sky!