WOW air

WOW air
IATA code :	WW
ICAO code :	WOW
Call sign :	WOW AIR
Founding:	2012
Operation stopped:	2019
Seat:	Reykjavík , Iceland
Turnstile :	Keflavík Airport
Home airport :	Keflavík Airport
IATA prefix code :	377
Fleet size:	11 (+ 5 orders)
Aims:	international
Website:	wowair.com
WOW air ceased operations in 2019. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

The headquarters of WOW air in Reykjavík

WOW air is an insolvent Icelandic low-cost airline based in Reykjavík and based at Keflavík Airport . It ceased flight operations on March 28, 2019.

history

The Icelandic Skúli Mogensen was the founder, owner and managing director of WOW air. The joint stock company WOW air hf. was founded on September 29, 2011 and the airline started operations on June 1, 2012. On October 23, 2012, it took over the competitor Iceland Express and integrated it.

In November 2013, WOW air received its own Air Operator Certificate from the Icelandic regulatory authority ; the company no longer had to rely on wet lease contracts with other airlines to carry out its flights. To do this, she mostly leased her aircraft from leasing companies such as ALC or CIT Aerospace . At the same time, the start of flights to the USA was announced.

On November 5, 2018, competitor Icelandair announced that it would acquire all shares in WOW Air. The two airlines should maintain their own market presence. On November 29, 2018, Icelandair announced that WOW Air would not be taken over after all. Indigo Partners took part in this, followed by a fleet reduction and downsizing : the long-haul aircraft are being returned to the leasing companies, the Airbus A330-900neo are not even taken over and 111 permanent employees and around 250 temporary workers have been terminated. The fleet should now consist of ten A321s and one A320, and around 1,000 people should remain employed.

In March 2019, WOW air held talks with Icelandair again after negotiations with the venture capitalist Indigo Partners failed to lead to a result. On March 28, 2019, WOW air announced on its website that flight operations had been suspended and filed for bankruptcy . Flight operations were scheduled to resume in October 2019 after US Aerospace Associates bought the Wow assets from the bankruptcy estate. This was initially delayed to December 2019; the resumption of freight traffic is currently planned for mid-March 2020 ^[obsolete] . Passenger traffic is to be resumed by the end of April. ^[outdated]

In January 2020 the liquidators informed the - now legally independent - old company of WOW Air that there had been financial inconsistencies. Among other things, the company's bonds were bought with loans to simulate a high level of interest in them, and a property in London that was declared as an employee apartment was used privately by founder Mogensen.

Destinations

WOW air flew from Keflavík to numerous destinations in Europe and Israel as well as several cities in North America .

In the German-speaking area , Berlin-Schönefeld , Düsseldorf , Frankfurt and Salzburg were served .

fleet

Airbus A320-200 of WOW air in the old color scheme

Airbus A330-300 of WOW air

In March 2019 the WOW air fleet consisted of 11 aircraft with an average age of 1.8 years:

Aircraft type	number	ordered	Remarks	Seats ( Economy + / Economy )
Airbus A320neo	1			178 (4/174)
Airbus A321-200	8th	1	all with Sharklets equipped	200 (- / 200) 208 (8/200) 210 (- / 210)
Airbus A321neo	2			208 (8/200)
Airbus A330-900neo		4th	Delivery probably end of 2018 - canceled	- open -
total	11	5

See also

• Former Airlines List (Europe)

Web links

Commons : WOW Air  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} WOW air hf. (4510110220) ( Icelandic ) In: Fyrirtækjaskrá [Icelandic Commercial Register] . Ríkisskattstjóri. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
2. ↑ airliners.de - WOW Air takes over Iceland Express, October 25, 2012
3. ↑ airliners.de - News from all over the world week 46/2013
4. ↑ Jakob Wert: Icelandair acquires WOW Air . In: International Flight Network , November 5, 2018. 
5. ↑ Timo Nowack: Takeover of Wow Air failed. In: aerotelegraph.com. November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Low-cost airline giant Indigo Partners saves Wow Air , accessed November 30, 2018
7. ↑ Wow Air no longer wants their Airbus A330 , accessed on December 16, 2018
8. ↑ Low-cost airline Wow Air ceases operations. In: faz.net . March 28, 2019.
9. ↑ Travel alert | WOW air. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 28, 2019 ; accessed on March 28, 2019 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ Joanna Bailey: Holy Mackerel! WOW 2.0 To Resume Services By March. In: Simple Flying. February 4, 2020, accessed on February 25, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Felix Stoffels: Wow Air liquidators turn on the public prosecutor. In: aero Telegraph. January 15, 2020, accessed February 25, 2020 . 
12. ↑ wow-air.de - Die WOW-Welt , accessed on May 19, 2017.
13. ↑ WOW air Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. February 2, 2019, accessed March 7, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Airbus - Orders & deliveries (English), accessed on May 19, 2017
15. ↑ airleasecorp.com - Air Lease Corporation Announces Lease Placement of Three New Airbus A321-200s, One New Airbus A321-200neo and One New Airbus A320-200neo with WOW Air, May 25, 2016 , accessed May 19, 2017
16. ↑ ch-aviation - Icelands WOW air to lease four A330neo from CIT Aerospace, March 30, 2017 (English), accessed on May 19, 2017
17. ↑ wow-air.de - seats at WOW air , accessed on May 19, 2017.