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| Founded | November 2011 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 31 May 2012 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 28 March 2019 | ||||||
| Hubs | Keflavík International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 10 | ||||||
| Destinations | 27[1] | ||||||
| Key people | Skúli Mogensen (CEO and founder) | ||||||
| Employees | 1,000[2] | ||||||
| Website | wowair | ||||||
Wow Air, stylized asWOW air, was anIcelandicultra low-cost carrier operating between 2012 and 2019. The airline was headquartered inReykjavík and based atKeflavík International Airport.[3] It flew between Iceland and the rest of Europe and North America, and also flew to India as part of a wider plan to expand in Asia.[4][5][1] The airline abruptly ceased operations on 28 March 2019, when its operating company WOW airhf. went out of business.
The airline's assets were acquired by United States–based holding companyUSAerospace Associates, which announced in 2019 and 2020 that the airline was relaunching service; however, flights did not commence, and the media was unable to independently verify the company's statements about its business plans or find evidence of an application for anair operator's certificate.
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Iceland's geographic position has made it an attractive stopover point for flights across the Atlantic. In the 1960s, flag carrierIcelandair established a stopover scheme to encourage tourism that continues to this day.[6]Icelandic Airlines, also known as Loftleiðir and remembered by the nicknames "Hippie Airline" and "Hippie Express", also used this approach along with a number of expense-lowering measures to become the first low-cost transatlantic carrier before it merged to form Icelandair.[7][8] The collapse of thekróna due to theIcelandic financial crisis in 2008 and the publicity brought by the2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull to its natural features led to a significant rise intourism there.[9]
Wow Air was founded by Icelandic entrepreneurSkúli Mogensen, who previously had an extensive business background largely in technology and telecoms in Iceland, Europe, and North America. The sole owner of Wow Air was Titan, an investment company owned by Mogensen,[10] who was the company CEO and sat on the five-person board of directors.[11][12] Mogensen cited a gap in the low-cost aviation market with regards to Iceland, and aimed to make it a major international transit point, repeatedly stating throughout that airline's history that he wanted Iceland to become "theDubai of the north".[13][14][15] According to him, the airline's name was chosen to signify his feelings toward Iceland and also because it reads "MOM" when the letters are turned upside down. Booking was opened 24 November 2011, with the airline planning to serve 12 destinations in Europe upon its operational launch the next summer.[16]
The airline's first service, from Keflavík toParis Charles de Gaulle, was flown on 31 May 2012.[17][18] In October 2012, Wow Air acquiredIceland Express's operations and network.[19] Iceland Express operated to several destinations in Europe and North America using leased equipment. At the end of October 2012, following the acquisition of its operations, flights toGatwick and Copenhagen saw frequency increases, services toBerlin,Kaunas (which was later dropped again),Salzburg andWarsaw had begun.
The airline carried over 400,000 passengers in 2013 and reached its one millionth passenger in December 2014.[18]
From 2015, Wow Air started expanding into North America, serving first the U.S., then Canada starting in May 2016.[20][21] Flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco began in June 2016 using two Airbus A330-300 planes leased fromAir Europa.[22] Wow Air's annual passenger capacity more than doubled in 2016 to over 1.6 million,[23] from approximately 740,000 in 2015.[24]
In 2017, Wow Air was accused of spreading false claims throughchurnalism, after several media outlets reported its claim that it would fly passengers from London Stansted to New York for £99, which it said was below cost. A flight leg priced at £99 was only available as part of a significantly more expensive return flight.[25]
Despite a 58% increase in revenue from the past year, Wow Air experienced a loss in 2017 after two profitable years. Although a contemporary analysis from theAviation Week Network pinned the results on overexpansion, expansion continued, with the airline reaching a high of 36 destinations in its network by 2018. Third quarter results that year showed a similar pattern, with increased revenues being counteracted by a larger loss margin. These issues were compounded by an increasing reputation for poor customer service.[26][27] On 5 November 2018, it was announced thatIcelandair Group, the holding company of rival carrierIcelandair, would acquire the entire share capital of Wow Air, subject to shareholder approval; the two airlines would continue to operate under separate names. Together, Icelandair and Wow Air have a share of around 3.8% of the transatlantic market.[28][29] On 27 November 2018, Wow Air announced that it had returned four aircraft to their lessors as asale and lease back offer fell through and the company's financial situation worsened due to stricter demands by suppliers and contractors.[30][31] The four returned aircraft (twoAirbus A320s and twoA330s) are owned by the same company that was supposed to deliver fourAirbus A330neos to Wow Air.[32] On 29 November, Icelandair abandoned its takeover plans as the pre-conditions of the shareholders meeting were unlikely to be met.[33]
The same day,Indigo Partners, which has stakes in several ultra low-cost carriers, reached a preliminary agreement to buy Wow Air.[34] Shortly after, Wow Air announced major adjustments to its operations: the staff was reduced by 360 down to about 1,000, a further five aircraft (fourAirbus A321s and the remaining A330) were to be phased out and the A330neos ordered would be cancelled.[2][35]Wow Air thus ended its routes toDelhi,Los Angeles,San Francisco (which was seasonal) andVancouver (which was to be introduced as a seasonal route in 2019).[36]In January 2019, Wow Air disclosed that Indigo's investment would initially correspond to a 49% shareholding, with the option to increase at a later date.[37] However, by March 2019, Indigo Partners withdrew its investment proposal[38] and Wow Air briefly but unsuccessfully resumed talks withIcelandair Group, but afterIcelandair examined WOW's finances, they quickly dismissed the proposals.[39] On 25 March 2019, the day after talks withIcelandair ceased, several Wow Air flights were cancelled, fueling speculation as to the airline's fate.[40] The airline attributed the cancellations to a technical failure and its knock-on effects,[41] although two planes were immobilised after being repossessed by the lessor.[42]
On 26 March 2019, Wow Air announced the conversion of bonds into equity and ongoing discussions with bondholders to secure the company's sustainability.[43] The following day, the company postponed all flights scheduled for 28 March "until documentation with all parties involved have been finalised."[44]
On 28 March 2019, Wow Air announced that it was ceasing operations.[45] All flights were cancelled and thousands of stranded passengers were advised to book flights with other airlines.[46][45] The founder of the company, Skúli Mogensen, has spoken of a possible resurrection of the airline[47] with a new, slow-growth business plan, if he receives the $40 million he needs. He plans to re-launch the company with 5 brand newAirbus A321neos.[48] Wow Air's website has since been taken down and replaced by a static update page.
Due to the market share of Wow Air on the Icelandic air travel market, the airline's bankruptcy caused some disruption in the travel plans of multiple expected visitors.[49] The loss of flights harmed Iceland's tourism and fishing-dependent economy and caused an increase in unemployment; the airline previously delivered over one quarter of all visitors to Iceland, and its failure caused tourist visits to drop 16 percent overall and 20 percent from the United States, prompting a decline in vacation home and hotel construction.[50]
In July 2019, former Wow Air executives announced their intention to form a new airline, tentatively namedWAB air ("We Are Back"), aiming to operate six aircraft to 14 destinations across Europe and the US.[51] In November 2019, WAB air was renamed asPLAY.[52] In May 2021, the airline announced the registration of itsair operator's certificate (AOC), as well as the acquisition of its firstA321neo aircraft.[53] The company opened routes between Iceland and seven European destinations starting on 24 June 2021.[citation needed]
In September 2019,USAerospace Associates announced the acquisition of Wow Air's assets and said it would start flights the next month betweenWashington Dulles International Airport and Keflavík using a United States AOC.[54] However, no inaugural service date was announced, airport officials would not confirm arrangements to use airport facilities, and no application for an AOC had been filed.[55] That October, the company said it would start passenger flights later that year, but no schedules nor destinations were announced.[56] Later that month, an airline spokesperson said it would initially transport cargo only and would begin passenger service at an unspecified later date.[57] In February 2020, Wow Air announced on social media that it would launch Wow Italy—part of "WOW World"—in Rome and Sicily "in the very near future".[58]
In November 2020,RÚV interviewed USAerospace chairmanMichele Roosevelt Edwards, who claimed that Wow would launch flights from Keflavík and various U.S. airports in early to mid-2021, that it was obtaining ten Airbus A321s, two of which had already been delivered and painted, and that she controlled a substantial amount of Icelandair stock; however, RÚV could not independently verify these claims, and she contradicted her 2019 statements that Wow had full financial backing. Roosevelt Edwards' lawyer in Iceland told RÚV that the airline's headquarters would be relocated to another, unspecified country, and said that the company no longer had staff in Iceland.[59]
Before March 2019, Wow Air had operated services to a total of 20 year-round and 6 seasonal destinations[1] in Europe, the U.S., Canada, and the Middle East from its base atKeflavík International Airport.[60]
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At the time of bankruptcy and cessation of operations on 28 March 2019, the airline operated an all-Airbus fleet consisting of the following aircraft:[61][62]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A321-200 | 5 | — | 8 | 192 | 200[62] | 1 waswet-leased toAruba Airlines.[32] |
| 3 | — | 8 | 202 | 210[62] | ||
| Airbus A321neo | 2 | — | 8 | 192 | 200[62] | |
| Total | 10 | — | ||||
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Wow Air had retired the following aircraft types prior to its shutdown:[63]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 2 | 2012 | 2018 |
| Airbus A320neo | 1 | 2017 | 2019 |
| Airbus A330-300 | 3 | 2016 | 2019 |
Wow Air's first planes were twoAirbus A320-200s leased fromAvion Express, both of which were nearly 20 years old when the airline started operations in 2012.[64] In 2015, these were replaced by two newer Airbus A320-200s, while the airline also proceeded to operate the longerAirbus A321-200 aircraft, reaching a peak of twelve A321-200 aircraft by the airline's mid-2018 peak.[32] In 2016, the airline began operating theAirbus A330-300, which it had used to launch services to the western United States, operating three of the type by mid-2018.[32] In 2017, the airline began operating theAirbus A320neo family of aircraft, with one A320neo and two A321neo aircraft in the fleet by mid-2018.[32] Also during 2017, the airline had ordered fourAirbus A330-900 aircraft,[65] but ultimately never took delivery of the aircraft by the time of its shutdown.
Following Wow Air's shutdown, lessors that owned Wow's fleet found new operators for the aircraft, includingAir Canada Rouge andVietJet Air for its Airbus A321-200s,[66]Onur Air for its Airbus A321neos,[citation needed]Turkish Airlines for its Airbus A330-300s,[citation needed] andCitilink andThai AirAsia X for its undelivered Airbus A330-900s.[67]
Bondholders have formally approved to convert their bonds into equity and formal discussions with investors have commenced to fund the company. This is an important milestone in financially restructuring the company and secure the long-term sustainability of WOW air.
WOW AIR has ceased operation. All WOW AIR flights have been cancelled.
Gunnar Steinn stated the airline will initially focus on cargo transport rather than passenger transport. Operations with begin with two planes transporting fish and other goods, and will expand based on demand. The airline aims to eventually offer regular passenger flights to mainland Europe.
Thai AirAsia X took a leased A330neo from leasing company Avalon this month after the plane was freed up by the demise of Iceland's WOW Air.
Media related toWOW Air at Wikimedia Commons
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