Iceland's WOW air considering Ireland as second base

MuffinsDa

WOW air (WW, Reykjavik Keflavik) chief executive officer Skuli Mogensen says the Icelandic budget carrier is considering using Dublin Int'l as its second transatlantic base. At present, WOW air connects its European and US networks through its Reykjavik Keflavik hub but according to Mogensen, a second hub is now being looked at owing to Keflavik's shortcomings.

http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/43491-icelands-wow-air-considering-ireland-as-second-base

JCX BXC

Probably just bait to get KEF to expand faster.

MuffinsDa

Carnacalla wrote: »

Probably just bait to get KEF to expand faster.

Don't think they have enough muscle for that. Their fleet currently consists of only 4 narrow bodies - hardly able to put pressure on KEF with that, considering they are keeping KEF as hub anyway.

On a side note: I believe they are a rather ****ty airline from all reviews I've heard and are more draconian than Ryanair used to be. Their prices are ferociously high as well between Dublin and KEF, can't understand how they can fill their planes with those prices unless it's all transatlantic traffic (Doubt it!) or Icelandic shoppers coming to Ireland!

JCX BXC

DUB-LAX prices are far higher with WOW than EI or ET, yet you get the grace of only a 5kg carry on allowance (upgradable to 12kg for like €50) and no check in luggage (20kg for €96 each way).

Awful, awful airline. Won't last long like this.

weisses

Carnacalla wrote: »

DUB-LAX prices are far higher with WOW than EI or ET, yet you get the grace of only a 5kg carry on allowance (upgradable to 12kg for like €50) and no check in luggage (20kg for €96 each way).

Awful, awful airline. Won't last long like this.

Definitely not the WOW factor then so

Tenger

And ch-aviation aren't the most reliable source of info either.

J.pilkington

It was another thread. Add on your bags and account for some snacks and they are almost same price as direct with aer Lingus except it takes 5 hrs longer

JCX BXC

J.pilkington wrote: »

It was another thread. Add on your bags and account for some snacks and they are almost same price as direct with aer Lingus except it takes 5 hrs longer

Dates I looked at in July expect a premium of about €200 per passenger over EI.

Even looking now at DUB-KEF in July, the cheapest return fare possible seems to be €301 (21st-25th July). €331 if you want 12kg carry on Luggage, and then €395 if you want a 20kg suitcase too!

€400 for a trip to Iceland doesn't float my boat.
What are charges like at KEF?

Noxegon

Carnacalla wrote: »

Dates I looked at in July expect a premium of about €200 per passenger over EI.

It could be €200 cheaper and I still wouldn't do it. Long haul travel is painful enough without having to deal with an ultra low cost product.

andy_g

Carnacalla wrote: »

DUB-LAX prices are far higher with WOW than EI or ET, yet you get the grace of only a 5kg carry on allowance (upgradable to 12kg for like €50) and no check in luggage (20kg for €96 each way).

Awful, awful airline. Won't last long like this.

The 5kg bag if you upgrade it to 12kg onlin is 15E if you do it at the airport its 38E.

Check in bag costs 54E if you do it at the airport and 31E online. They are decent for space in the seat both from DUB to KEF and KEF to the states.

Like FR if you dont stick to the rules it can be expensive. Sure they can get you to washington for 140E one way if ya get it at the right time.

JCX BXC

andy_g wrote: »

The 5kg bag if you upgrade it to 12kg onlin is 15E if you do it at the airport its 38E.

Check in bag costs 54E if you do it at the airport and 31E online. They are decent for space in the seat both from DUB to KEF and KEF to the states.

Like FR if you dont stick to the rules it can be expensive. Sure they can get you to washington for 140E one way if ya get it at the right time.

Check the route please. DUB to LAX.
My €50 figure was inaccurate, its actually €92 return for 12kg carry on luggage. My check in baggage figure was correct for the route.

Unlike FR, you only get 5kg carry on allowance free which even I wouldn't travel with. Unlike FR the extremes are far worse, its expensive most of the time regardless of sticking to the rules or not.

Also, in regards Washington, its at least €320 return in that case, plus extortionary baggage costs that will almost definitely make it more expensive than EI/UA.

andy_g

My advice pack light

arubex

Carnacalla wrote: »

Even looking now at DUB-KEF in July, the cheapest return fare possible seems to be €301 (21st-25th July). €331 if you want 12kg carry on Luggage, and then €395 if you want a 20kg suitcase too!

:eek: No wonder Easyjet from Belfast to Kelfavik is doing OK. For the closest comaprable dates, 23 to 27 July, I've just priced a single-adult return with unlimited-weight cabin bag and 20 kg hold bag on EZY at £153 == €200.

And I don't particularly think of Easyjet as cheap these days, but that's a shocking difference compared to an alleged 'bargain' 'no-frills' carrier. Just shows how it pays to shop-around.

man98

Carnacalla wrote: »

Awful, awful airline. Won't last long like this.

I believe they've already broken even systemwide. And added 4 extra weekly flights to DUB. Say what you like about their service but their CEO is a smart man, though perhaps the limits will change with their A330s?

Blut2

The fee for checked luggage is OK I think, its usually possible for most people to fly carry-on only for a lot of trips (business or pleasure) if you pack efficiently. I personally would rather a cheaper overall flight to discourage more people from checking luggage, ala Ryanair's business model.

The tiny weight limit for carry-on is crazy though, that's extremely limiting. I don't know many people who could travel for any length of time on less than 5kg of weight. Between that, the lack of food, and more importantly the forced routing through KEF extending travel times significantly I've yet to see a WOW fare that's cheap enough to tempt me from EI or the American transatlantic carriers.

Locker10a

Blut2 wrote: »

The fee for checked luggage is OK I think, its usually possible for most people to fly carry-on only for a lot of trips (business or pleasure) if you pack efficiently. I personally would rather a cheaper overall flight to discourage more people from checking luggage, ala Ryanair's business model.

The tiny weight limit for carry-on is crazy though, that's extremely limiting. I don't know many people who could travel for any length of time on less than 5kg of weight. Between that, the lack of food, and more importantly the forced routing through KEF extending travel times significantly I've yet to see a WOW fare that's cheap enough to tempt me from EI or the American transatlantic carriers.

Discouraging people from checking a bag is what causes boarding to be so slow and stressful for people flying low fares airlines, physically speaking if everyone on a flight brought a trolley bag only half of those bags will actually fit into the lockers, this causes delays to flights as bags are offloaded it gate checked ( I believe Ryanair only allow 90 bags into the cabin, checking the rest into the hold) so discouraging people not to check in bags doesn't really work, half of the bags end up in the hold anyway !
The only reason airlines do it is because they can charge extra for it in advance