WOW Air returns after bankruptcy, flights to Washington starting next month!

WOW Air, the Icelandic budget airline that went bankrupt in March, will be back in business in October. The airline’s first scheduled air route will be between Reykjavík and Washington D.C. This was confirmed by Michele Ballarin, the chairman of the American aviation company USAerospace Associates.

The Icelandic budget airline went bankrupt in March leaving thousands of passengers stranded all across Europe and North-America. During this, the former WOW Air CEO Skúli Mogensen said that time simply ran out before the airline was able to find funding to keep them operational.

In a press conference in Reykjavík earlier today Ballarin confirmed that an agreement had been made between USAerospace and the representatives of the bankrupt estate of the Icelandic airline. During the meeting Ballarin issued a statement, confirming that the new airline would commence operation in October.

She gave no financial details of the buyout, but USAerospace said that it had earmarked $85 million to help with WOW’s cash flow.

Ballarin will become the chairman of WOW Air LLC, and the main base of the airline will be at Washington Dulles airport along with facilities at Keflavík airport and an office located in Reykjavík.

At the conference, Ballarin emphasised that the new budget airline will start with few destinations, aiming at maintaining between ten and twelve airplanes at a time. At first, it will only operate two planes and Ballarin expects them to be both from Boeing and Airbus manufacturers.

She additionally said that air cargo will become an important part of the operation of the new airline. „We also want to focus on building a strong air cargo capability between Keflavík and Washington. We look forward to bringing some unique opportunities here for commerce,“ said Ballarin.

It is great to see a comeback of WOW Air which was a popular choice among budget travellers offering low fares between Europe and the USA.

Let’s hope the new investors will have more luck surviving in current tight air travel market!