WOW Air Expands Cheap Flights to the West Coast

WOW Air, the low-coast Icelandic carrier known for $99 one-way fares to Europe, is growing its route network in the United States to include cities on the West Coast.

The airline plans to launch direct service from both San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX) to its main hub near Reykjavik next summer, with ticket sales beginning January 2016.

San Francisco and Los Angeles join WOW’s four other destinations in North America, including Baltimore (BWI) and Boston (BOS) as well as Montreal (YUL) and Toronto (YYZ), launching in May 2016.

“We are thrilled to add Los Angeles and San Francisco to our fast growing network. This is a game-changer for WOW Air as we cement ourselves as the industry leader in the ultra-low-cost long-haul category,” said Skúli Mogensen, founder and CEO, WOW Air.

Launched in 2011, WOW currently operates a fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft with plans to add three Airbus A330-300 aircraft for long-haul routes between Iceland and the West Coast. The carrier will offer the service with 340 seats in an all-economy-class configuration.

“With the addition of these long-range A330-300 aircraft to our fleet, we will be able to offer fares from Europe to the West Coast of the United States far cheaper than our competitors whilst maintaining great service with a smile, as we did with our routes to Boston, Baltimore/Washington D.C., Toronto and Montreal,” said Mogensen.

WOW plans to fly to San Francisco five times per week and to Los Angeles four times per week.