Father says Loftbrú changes undermine equality

Residents of the Westfjords will face higher travel costs under planned changes to the Loftbrú discount scheme, says Páll Janus Þórðarson, a father of three who is expecting a fourth child. In an interview with mbl.is, he compared the changes to George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm.

Þórðarson, a sports scientist in Ísafjörður, said he and his wife, Þóra Marý Arnórsdóttir, had to travel to Reykjavík for a pregnancy growth scan that is not offered locally. A midwife referred his wife for the service, and he went with her for support.

He said the airfare was 79,000 krónur before he applied a Loftbrú discount code, which brought the cost down to 47,000 krónur. The scheme currently gives residents who live far from the capital a 40 per cent discount on their total airfare. Infrastructure Minister Eyjólfur Ármannsson has announced that the discount will change to a fixed 7,000 krónur from the new year, drawing criticism outside the capital.

Under the planned change, the same flight would cost 65,000 krónur rather than 47,000, Þórðarson said, accounting for a 7,000-króna discount for each of them. While mbl.is was preparing its interview, the minister announced that he would consider raising the discount to 9,000 krónur.

Þórðarson said the family had also made four trips this year for their son’s orthodontic treatment, which is not reimbursed by Icelandic Health Insurance. In a Facebook post, he invoked Animal Farm’s depiction of a society where “some are more equal than others” and asked whether the government was preparing its own version of the book at Alþingi, Iceland’s parliament.

He said the government is led by the Social Democratic Alliance, a party that identifies itself with equality, but that he believes the changes are undermining existing equality. He said he sometimes feels like a “foolish sheep out in the countryside” who has been tricked into trying to create value in rural areas.