The popular low-cost Icelandic airline, WOW Air has been declared bankrupt. The news were announced after a failed acquisition by Indigo Partners and after the carrier were in talks with Icelandair, too.
WOW Air has been in financial trouble for around 5 months now; at one point the company’s CEO even had to use his own money to keep the company afloat. Over the last year, we’ve seen several high profile airlines collapse, mainly caused by increased fuel prices and exchange rates. This caused Primera Air to also file for bankruptcy in October last year.
Shortly after Primera Air went bankrupt last year, the airline Cobalt followed. The most recent bankruptcies to follow were the German low-cost airline Germania and UK regional carrier FlyBMI, and now WOW Air.
What to do if you have flights booked
WOW Air has advised to “check available flights with other airlines” and also mentioned “some airlines may offer flights at a reduced rate, so-called rescue fares, in light of the circumstances. Information on those airlines will be published, when it becomes available”.
If you have booked tickets with WOW Air, it’s advisable to contact your credit card issuer and see if they are able to complete a refund for the flight tickets. If you have travel insurance booked for your trip, it could also be protected in case of airline bankruptcy.