Next
time someone tells you that “somebody will always
want to start up an airline,” believe it.
Welcome to age of the
super low-cost carrier! WOW Air has announced it will
be flying four days a week from LAX to Iceland for as
low as $99 each way.
Wow Air, which joins Europe’s
other super low-cost Norwegian Air, said it is also
offering $199 flights for travelers who stopover in
Iceland and then continue on to London, Paris, Berlin,
and 18 other European destinations.
Wow Air will feature the
same starting prices at San Francisco International
Airport. Service is set to begin June 9 from SFO and
June 15 from LAX.
Flights from L.A. to Reykjavik
will operate four days a week with connecting flights
to Europe. Service from San Francisco to Iceland will
operate five days a week.
WOW Cargo Alliance at start up. |
We
Remember WOW Cargo
 A less than stellar attempt
at an air cargo alliance, WOW Cargo began in 2000 as
a partnership between SAS, Singapore Airlines, and Lufthansa
Cargo (Japan Airlines joined in 2002) to operate an
express product.
WOW was launched amidst
much ballyhoo at a presser inside the InterCity Hotel
at Cargo City Sud Frankfurt in 2002.
The carriers hired a corporate
motivator type in the form of an Aussie advertising
pitchman, who reminded us of one of those TV infomercial
guys.
For us, the best part
of the show was the hour or so of questions lobbed like
big fat softballs by members of the press at the executives.
We recall someone at the
presser asked Mr. Hwang Teng Aun, CEO Singapore Airlines
Cargo, how he handicapped the chances for success at
WOW. His immediate answer was:
“Failure is not
an option.”
Later, as he attempted
to make a point, Mr. Hwang drew a word picture, proclaiming
that where he comes from, getting something going and
performing properly takes a certain amount of “Oomph.”
Why the founders of WOW
didn’t just cut to the chase and name their product
“Oomph” has never been answered.
Lufthansa exited WOW in
2009 and JAL Cargo left the group in 2010.
WOW
Today
Although it is hard to find much written evidence of
it, according to Wikipedia, true to that “failure
is no option” remark by Singapore Cargo, “The
WOW Cargo Alliance is the world's second largest cargo
alliance consisting of only 2 members and is currently
competing with the only other cargo alliance, SkyTeam
Cargo.”
Geoffrey
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