Iceland’s Wow Air has acquired its rival, Iceland Express, taking control of all the airline’s flight operations and schedules. No disruption is expected for passengers booked on Iceland Express flights and Wow Air will ensure that all obligations to them are fulfilled.
The move is not a merger, it is a takeover, with Wow Air acquiring the Iceland Express route network, branding and customer base. The united company will fly under the Wow Air brand.
“We are extremely happy with the acquisition and offer Iceland Express passengers a warm welcome aboard,” said Skuli Mogensen, President of WOow Air. “Iceland Express has been a pioneering low-fares airline in Iceland and was the country’s most punctual airline this summer. This acquisition will significantly boost Wow Air and ensure that we can continue to offer the lowest prices and excellent service. We will immediately be able to greatly increase our frequency to and from London and Copenhagen, and also provide more capacity and new destinations next summer.
“I really look forward to the task of continuing to build a strong and more-diverse tourism sector in Iceland and want to take the opportunity to give thanks for the fantastic reception Wow Air has received from the many guests who have flown with us in the last few months.”
Wow Air will immediately begin offering more flights to Iceland from London and Copenhagen, as well as flights this winter from Berlin. Routes will also operate between Iceland and Salzburg over the skiing season and Warsaw and Kaunas over Christmas.
From next spring Wow Air will run four Airbus A320 aircraft and will offer up to 400,000 cheap flight tickets to and from Iceland. The company’s summer timetable will include 15 European destinations: London, Copenhagen, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Milan, Zurich, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Lyon, Alicante, Frankfurt, Vilnius and Warsaw. In addition to the higher number of destinations, the frequency of flights to many of them will also increase significantly.
