WOW air (Reykjavik Keflavik) is considering opening its first hub outside Iceland to offset seasonal fluctuations in demand, CEO Skuli Mogensen has told Air Transport World. He did not name any potential locations for the hub other than saying it will be "somewhere where it is warm in winter".
The Icelandic LCC currently bases its aircraft solely out of Reykjavik Keflavik which it has developed, alongside rival Icelandair, into a rapidly growing transatlantic hub.
However, both capacity constraints at the main Icelandic gateway and high seasonality are factors which have pushed WOW air into pursuing a secondary hub.
WOW air is also nearing an announcement of its maiden Asian route (with the exception of already served Tel Aviv Ben Gurion), expected to happen later this month
"Our business really revolves around using Iceland’s unique location to connect European destinations, via Iceland, to North America. We now have 14 destinations across North America and we will be adding Asia routes as of May," Mogensen said.
The carrier is expecting delivery of four A330-900s later this year. Any services to Asia would most likely be operated with the new generation Airbus widebodies due to their extended range in comparison to the A330-300s, of which WOW air operates three.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, WOW air's longest routes currently connect Reykjavik Keflavik with Los Angeles International, San Francisco, and Tel Aviv. Singapore Changi has long been rumoured to be the likely maiden destination of the Icelandic LCC in Asia.
The carrier's fleet, currently numbering nineteen Airbus jets, is set to grow to twenty-four units by year-end with the addition of four A330-900s and one A321neo (of which the carrier already operates one).
