Wow Air reboot Play plans US start next summer

Icelandic budget startup Play Airlines plans to make its debut in the US next summer, three years after predecessor Wow Air closed its doors. Play plans to begin flights to destinations on the US East Coast from Iceland with onward connections to Europe in summer of 2022 — a period that for airlines begins on March 27, 2022 — according to its application for a US foreign air carrier permit on August 20. If it receives timely approvals, flights would begin nearly a year after Play launched in June and three years after it was formed by a number of former Wow executives as a “restoration” of the defunct budget carrier. US service is key to Play’s success. The carrier began flights to Europe in June but, in part due to the small size of Iceland’s market, needs to offer flights to North America to generate high volumes of flow traffic over its Reykjavík hub to make its ultra low-cost business model work. Its business is dependent on operating mostly full flights where more than 90% of seats are occupied.<br/>