Bumper profits and growth at WOW air

Icelandic low-cost airline WOW air has turned around considerable losses in 2014 to post profits of ISK 1.1 billion (approx. €7.7 million) last year.

WOW air lost ISK 600 million (approx. €4.2 million) in 2014, but enjoyed massive pre-tax profits last year – profits which could potentially have been even higher.

“We pegged our fuel prices at the end of 2014 – a decision which alone cost us just under a billion ISK, given how much oil prices actually fell,” explains CEO Skúli Mogensen. “We have not pegged prices in the same way this year.”

According to Mogensen, his airline’s low-cost model is working.

“We have grown enormously, with seat capacity rising from 600,000 in 2014 to 840,000 last year. Despite this huge growth, our passenger load factor was 88%.”

WOW air’s growth is expected to reach even greater heights in 2016, with 1.9 million seats on offer, a much bigger fleet, and greater flight frequency. Mogensen expects total revenue to more than double from ISK 17 billion last year to ISK 39 billion (approx. €274 million) in 2016.