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The timeline of events that led to WOW Air going into administration


WOW Air have become the latest airline to go into administration, following in the footsteps of a number of other budget carriers.

Monarch Airlines, Primera Air and FlyBMI are some of the airlines to have gone under in recent years.

 WOW Air is the latest airline to go into administration 

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WOW Air is the latest airline to go into administration 

Thousands of passengers have been stranded abroad by the airline’s collapse while a number of other carriers have stepped in to offer repatriation flights for those affected by WOW Air.

Why did WOW Air go under?

The Icelandic airline founded by Skuli Mogensen launched their first flight in 2012, from Reykjavik to Paris.

In 2015, the airline expanded into long-haul travel, launching flights to the US and Canada.

However, rumours of financial difficulties started in October 2018 when the airline cancelled three of their US routes – to St Louis, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

 The airline went into administration earlier today (March 28)
The airline went into administration earlier today (March 28)

This was cited due to “low load factors,” according to Business Traveller, which suggested the airline’s cheap tickets were not as profitable as they had hoped.

WOW Air later reduced their services to India before they even launched, with routes to Delhi just three times a week – not five times as planned.

In November 2018, the airline was looking for investors with rumours of a deal with Icelandair.

By the end of the month, Icelandair announced they had abandoned plans to acquire the carrier.

 CEO Skuli Mogensen cited "difficulties" last year after returning a number of Airbus planes
CEO Skuli Mogensen cited “difficulties” last year after returning a number of Airbus planes

A letter from Skuli to bondholders blamed bad publicity and the collapse of Primera Air behind why events had “worsened significantly” for WOW Air.

WOW Air also returned four aircraft, two Airbus A320s and two Airbus A330s and sold four Airbus A321s, reducing the fleet from 20 to 11.

The reduction saw 111 members of staff being made redundant.


WOW NO MORE WOW Air cancels ALL flights leaving thousands stranded as Icelandic budget airline goes into administration


At the time, Skuli said: “This is the most difficult day in the history of WOW Air. We have dedicated people who have worked hard to make WOW Air a reality and it breaks my heart to downsize the company.

“However, in order to ensure our future and preserve WOW Air in the long run, we unfortunately must take these drastic measures.”

Monarch Airlines collapses into administration cancelling all future flights from UK

Despite reported passenger numbers of 3.5 million in 2018, the airline began cancelling a number of routes earlier this week.

Last-minute talks with Icelandair fell through, before all flights were “postponed” and then cancelled this morning followed by the news that the airline had gone under.

In 2017, Monarch Airlines went under, affecting 300,000 bookings, followed by Primera Air the following year in 2018.

In February 2019, FlyBMI went into administration with many Brits stranded abroad.

A report last year suggested one in every 200 passengers could affected by airlines going out of business in the next 15 years.





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