Super cheap way to get to Europe

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June 26th, 2016 at 12:45:19 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Icelandair was always a very inexpensive way to get to Europe, but they are now concentrating on the business traveler who cannot afford the lie flat seats, but just wants a big old fashioned seat for a reasonable price.

WOW is a new one class economy airline operating out of Iceland. In addition to several narrowbodies, they have invested in a all economy widebody plane (an Airbus 330) which allows them to introduce flights to San Francisco and LAX which is beyond the range of the B757s that Icelandair flies.


WOW Air fleet
2 Airbus A320-200 | 180 seats (6.3 & 6.4 years)
6 Airbus A321-200 | 220 seats (1.7 years)
3 Airbus A330-300 | 342 seats (3.1 years)

WOW Northern Americas destinations
Washington, D.C (BWI) | Boston
Los Angeles | San Francisco
Montréal | Toronto

via Reykjavik

major European Destinations
London Paris Amsterdam Frankfurt Rome Dublin
Milan Barcelona Stockholm Berlin Edinburgh Copenhagen

smaller European Destinations
Bristol Alicante Düsseldorf Lyon
Nice Vilnius Warsaw

off Africa Destinations
Tenerife
Gran Canaria
June 26th, 2016 at 3:26:16 AM permalink
Aussie
Member since: May 10, 2016
Threads: 2
Posts: 458
I believe you can get a free stopover in Reykjavik too which would appeal to plenty of tourists I'd think. You normally have to buy a fare from a more expensive fare bucket to be able to have stopovers so that's a nice feature and probably a draw card.
June 26th, 2016 at 1:17:19 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Aussie
You normally have to buy a fare from a more expensive fare bucket to be able to have stopovers so that's a nice feature and probably a draw card.


http://wowair.co.uk/flights/wow-stopover/

I think you mean you have to buy a more expensive fare to have a stopover at a major airport like London, Paris . New York, or Sydney. Keflavik airport is under 5 million passengers a year, and has always had free stopovers. As Iceland is relatively unknown, visitors are very likely to book their hotel, car or tours in Iceland via the airline. Stopovers must be a big profit center for them.

Also the country would probably have a much smaller tourism revenue if it wasn't for stopovers. Although there are some tourists who just are going to Iceland from North American, I am imagine it is a relatively small percentage.

Total number of tourists in 2014 that came through Keflavik Airport
230,547 Central/S-Europe
180,503 UK
190,894 N-America
158,291 Nordic countries
208,946 Other
969,181 Total tourists
323,000 Population of Iceland

Icelandair's two widebodies, Boeing 767s. are 15-17 years old. Most of their B757s are obviously old. The average fleet age is just over 20 years.
Wow's three widebodies, Airbus A330s, are betweeen 1 and 6 years old. The average fleet age is just over 3 years.
June 27th, 2016 at 2:39:08 AM permalink
Aussie
Member since: May 10, 2016
Threads: 2
Posts: 458
As far as I know its the airline who sets the terms and conditions of travel on a particular fare and hence determines whether stopovers are allowed. It's not the particular airport. A stopover is deemed to be anything greater than 24hrs. Anything under is a transit. What typically happens (for international travel anyway) is that cheaper fares buckets will price itineraries with stopovers as one ways and hence end up more expensive. If you buy a fare in a more expensive bucket then you can potentially have a free stopover somewhere without t being priced as one way.
June 27th, 2016 at 2:30:09 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Pacomartin
323,000 Population of Iceland


Isn't that like three zeroes too many? :)

Seriously, I live in a city with over 40 times as many people as Iceland. When I use the subway (and I haven't in years), I probably see more people than that in a single day! You can fit nearly one third the population of Iceland in the local soccer (sucker?) stadium.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
June 27th, 2016 at 5:40:27 PM permalink
TheCesspit
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 23
Posts: 1929
And the Icelandeers just dropped the English out of Europe again... (In the European Football)
It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life
June 27th, 2016 at 5:49:19 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: TheCesspit
And the Icelandeers just dropped the English out of Europe again... (In the European Football)


Oh, and consider this: if something has a one in a million chance of happening to someone, then in Mex City it happens on average 20 times a day. In Iceland it would happen on average every three plus days and only once!

The Icelandic lottery must suck, too. Either the tickets are worth a fortune, or the jackpot buys you a nice dinner :)
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
June 27th, 2016 at 8:27:23 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Nareed
The Icelandic lottery must suck, too. Either the tickets are worth a fortune, or the jackpot buys you a nice dinner :)


Icelanders regularly joke about their lottery, making up headlines like “Jackpot Winner Blows It All on Second-Hand Car”. However it did roll over once to ISK 139 million, which was split between two lucky winners December 2013. That is over a million dollars.

They are the most consanguineous people on earth, as they are all descended from a handful of settlers in the 9th century. I believe that there is a preacher who lived a few hundred years ago that is known to be a common ancestor of every single Icelander. They have a hookup app for their smart phones that warns you if you are about to have sex with your third cousin or closer.

Interestingly enough another island, Hawaii, has the most un-consanguineous people on the planet. It was possibly the last place to be populated by humanity, but the original settlers were almost completely wiped out by disease and slave labor after they were discovered by Captain Cook in the late 18th century. Waves of workers were brought in from Philippines, Japan, Argentina (for cattle ranchers) and Puerto Rico among other places.

HAWAII's CENSUS Population estimates: 1,431,603
37.3% Asian alone, percent, July 1, 2015
26.7% White alone, percent, July 1, 2015
23.0% Two or More Races, percent, July 1, 2015
9.9% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent, July 1, 2015
2.6% Black or African American alone, percent, July 1, 2015
0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent, July 1, 2015
..
10.4% Hispanic or Latino, percent, July 1, 2015

Quote: Aussie
As far as I know its the airline who sets the terms and conditions of travel on a particular fare and hence determines whether stopovers are allowed. It's not the particular airport.


I didn't mean to imply that the airport sets the policy. I think Icelandic economy more or less makes it unreasonable to do otherwise.

New Zealand seems to be bucking as a convenient place to change airplanes for South Americans going to Asia. I presume they will similarly offer free or low cost stopovers. Auckland Airport had 16.5 million passengers in 2015.
June 28th, 2016 at 7:15:56 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Pacomartin
Icelanders regularly joke about their lottery, making up headlines like “Jackpot Winner Blows It All on Second-Hand Car”. However it did roll over once to ISK 139 million, which was split between two lucky winners December 2013. That is over a million dollars.


Depending on how many numbers are played, and given the small population, jackpots ought not hit as often as in other lotteries.

Quote:
They are the most consanguineous people on earth, as they are all descended from a handful of settlers in the 9th century. I believe that there is a preacher who lived a few hundred years ago that is known to be a common ancestor of every single Icelander.


What I find really odd is they still use patronymics. That should make it harder to keep track of who's family
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
August 6th, 2016 at 7:59:23 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569


12 JULY 2016 PRESS RELEASE
WOW Air the low-fare airline based in Iceland has signed a firm order for four A321s. The airline’s first purchase agreement directly with Airbus also makes WOW air a new Airbus customer. WOW air is an all Airbus operator with 11 aircraft in its fleet to date and will grow to 12 by the end of 2016.

WOW Air fleet
2 Airbus A320-200 | 180 seats (6.3 & 6.4 years)
6 Airbus A321-200 | 220 seats (1.7 years)
3 Airbus A330-300 | 342 seats (3.1 years)

They are adding Newark on 25 November 2016 as their 5th USA destination (Newark to Keflavik is 2,601 miles)

The Low Cost Transatlantic Narrow Body competition seems to be gearing up.

WOW Air is running the widebody A330 to California
KEF-SEA 3,622 mi Icelandair longest range with narrow body B757
KEF-SFO 4,204 mi WOW A330 widebody all economy configuration
KEF-LAX 4,313 mi WOW A330 widebody all economy configuration

The current longest flight on an Airbus A321-200 is from Tromsø to Gran Canaria (3,191 miles) by Thomas Cook Scandinavia.
Newark Airport to Dublin is 3,193 miles for comparison.


The neoA321 will be capable of much longer distances.
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