Travellers in Wales and the South West have been handed a welcome boost by the arrival of WOW air at Bristol Airport.
The Icelandic low-cost carrier will begin flying from the city in May, offering fares to four cities - Toronto, Montreal, Washington DC and Boston - for as little as £99 one-way.
Its services are not direct – anyone hoping to take advantage must fly via Reykjavik – but they are hard to beat when it comes to price. Bristol has no direct flights to Canada or the US, so anyone in the region heading to either country must travel via London, or another major European hub, in any case.
WOW air will fly from Bristol to Reykjavik on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from where they can join a service to one of six cities - Boston, Washington D.C., Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles or San Francisco.
According to its website the £99 fares can be secured for departures to Boston on May 16, 18 and 25, for departures to Montreal on September 7, 14, 19 and 28, for departures to Toronto on September 7 and 14, and for departures to Washington on May 13 and 20. They are one-way, and the homeward leg typically costs double, so the cheapest return fare is likely to be around £300 – some way off that £99 “headline” fare, but good value nonetheless.
Fares during the peak summer months are considerably higher.
A320 aircraft will operate the Bristol to Reykjavik flight with single-class A321 and A330-300 aircraft operating the routes between Iceland and North America.
“As one of our strongest markets we are delighted to continue to grow WOW air’s presence in the UK,” said Skúli Mogensen, the company’s founder and CEO. "Bringing our ultra-low-cost transatlantic model to Bristol will make flying to the US and Canada much easier for those in the South West and Wales.”
Robert Sinclair, Chief Executive Office at Bristol Airport, said he was “thrilled” at the news, while Visit Bristol tweeted its approval.
Fantastic new @wow_air flights from/to Iceland & North America to/from Bristol! @OfficialBRS #happythanksgiving https://t.co/gAnCMfuJaL
— Visit Bristol (@VisitBristol) November 24, 2015
WOW air’s expansion follows the announcement earlier this month that Norwegian, another Scandinavian low-cost airline, is to launch a UK subsidiary.
Norwegian UK will begin flying early next year, and hopes to offer services from Britain to Asia, South America and South Africa.
Unlike Ryanair and EasyJet, whose aircraft are only capable of short-haul services, Norwegian is committed to a long-haul strategy. It has eight 787 Dreamliners, with a further 30 on order, and already operates direct services from Britain to a handful of US destinations, including Fort Lauderdale, New York and Los Angeles. It also offers flights to Dubai and Bangkok from its bases in Scandinavia.
While the low-cost long-haul model had previously been dismissed as unworkable - Laker Airways, Zoom and Oasis Hong Kong all tried and failed - falling fuel prices have helped revive the idea.
Ryanair has frequently claimed it will offer flights to the US once it secures the long-haul fleet required to do so; Air Asia X, the low-cost arm of Air Asia, briefly flew from Europe to Asia, and has stated its desire to relaunch services; Jetstar already offers no-frills flights from Australia to destinations including Japan and Hawaii.
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