WOW Air

[superking]

jerry look back to post 94.

 

[Jerry]

jerry look back to post 94.

But that doesn't specifically mention BRS but BRS is not the only ones not on sale Salzburg and Gran Canaria isn't on sale beyond March, though they could be winter routes. Considering EDI and LGW are already on sale then i would've thought BRS would be by now.

 

[Jerry]

I tweeted WOW Air asking if BRS was flying next summer and this was their reply.
The schedule for many of our destinations has already been published for next summer but unfortunately there is no specific info we can give you on destinations that are currently not on sale. Please stay tuned on wowair.com and join the WOW club for news and offers!
So it could come back or might not.

 

[BRSregular]

Still no news and I fear 'no news is bad news'. Wow's reply as mentioned in a recent earlier post was deliberately vague and non-commital. I fear that they are driving North American expansion and BRS, along with Salzburg and Gran Canaria may suffer as a result. It would be a huge shame as it is beginning to grow into a great gateway to N.America

 

[Jerry]

Cork is new for next year so i'm wondering if they've dropped BRS in favour of Cork?

 

[forest1979]

Wikipedia has wow listed as ending March 2017... if this is the case, it is as I thought might happen.. people in general want to fly stateside direct and not via another euro hub... I might be wrong but I would like to know how many of wow's bookings had onward connections from Bristol...
Incedently I have just booked a flight with them, £49.00 out in Jan.. easy back £200!!!!

 

[tpm]

I did not find Wow very competitive when going to the states (east coast) earlier this summer, also looking at various other dates. Just doesn't make sense (in terms of $$$ or time) compared to flying from LHR/LGW or via AMS, even more so given the ghastly middle-of-the-night stopover on the way back. Was only really worth looking at for SF or LA where they had amazing fares.

 

[Marko1]

I tweeted wow yesterday and they said that they have not released all their summer schedule yet and to keep looking. Incidentally Milan Warsaw and Lyon are also not yet released so it doesn't look too negative. We just have to be a bit patient I guess

 

[Aviador]

I tweeted wow yesterday and they said that they have not released all their summer schedule yet and to keep looking. Incidentally Milan Warsaw and Lyon are also not yet released so it doesn't look too negative. We just have to be a bit patient I guess

Looking back to the start of the thread the flights were originally announced on the 24th November.

 

[Jerry]

I've had a look at the cost of flights to the west coast and although cheaper i'd still have to book another flight to Portland as unlike Icelandair they only fly to LAX and SFO. Whenever i look at flights it always comes back to klm for me and this time i have the option of coming home through CDG with Flybe. They don't as well seem to advertise this side of the bridge as far as i've seen.

 

[Aviador]

I can appreciate your sentiment but as you say it's down to choice and I think that's what this is all about. Some people will prefer to have a stopover halfway in Iceland, others will prefer to go direct and others will choose to use connections through the hub airports. It's another option open to passengers from the South West which can only be a good thing especially as the direct option is from neighbouring airports.

 

[Jerry]

Hopefully the route will return and they'll continue to grow and add more connections as it's always good to have lots of options and there is always the ability to include Iceland with them as part of any US trip.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Passenger figures for the months July-September on BRS-KEF are now available on the CAA website. They were the months when WOW had the route to itself (easyJet came off in early June but will return this winter- against WOW).

July 3624 passengers, average load 139.4, load factor 80.1%

August 4280, 152.8, 87.8%

September 3354, 129, 74.1%

Not disastrous although a bit mixed, but we have no way of knowing if the yield was satisfactory for the airline. Neither do we know what percentage flew to/from North America.

The fact that the route is still not bookable after March 2017 suggests that the airline might have been hoping for more. There is still time for it to appear in the summer booking engine but my gut feeling is that it is now unlikely.

 

[Jerry]

If this doesn't return how much of a blow to BRS is losing the route? Does anyone know if they advertised it as access to South Wales as well as the South West?

 

[Aviador]

If the WOW discontinue the route it will be a huge blow, not just for BRS but for other regions seeking a similar service.

 

[Jerry]

If the WOW discontinue the route it will be a huge blow, not just for BRS but for other regions seeking a similar service.

There could be an alternative for many regions. Icelandair are launching BHD-KEF with Q400s! Whether the Q400 has the range from the South west area i don't know.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It will be interesting to see if the Q400 service from Belfast City to Keflavik is a success. It's not far short of 900 miles with Bristol-Keflavik over 1100 miles. I quite like turbo-props for short distances but that sort of journey would be a trial to many. There are those who eschew 'propeller' aircraft for any journey.

I take a slightly different view about the WOW decision to axe its BRS-KEF route, if indeed it has done so, although losing any service at any airport especially if it's with a new airline (to the airport) is always disappointing.

BRS has alternatives for reaching North America via hubs, notably Amsterdam and Dublin, although Brussels (very limited) and Frankfurt (a long way round) are also available, so losing WOW is not a hammer blow in the sense that there is no other way to reach North America from BRS. It might though suggest to potential operators that BRS would struggle with a direct service to North America.

Continental attracted the passengers but in the end not the yield on BRS-EWR, although other factors also contributed to its demise.

I was surprised when WOW announced the KEF route because on point to point they would be competing with the established easyJet route and were presumably relying on attracting long haul customers. Perversely, easyJet now seems to regard KEF as a winter-only route and, as in summer 2016, will not be operating in summer 2017 (at least, the route is not available for booking then) when WOW would have had the field to itself.

I have a feeling that WOW might not yet have given up on expansion in regional Britain. We shall have to wait and see.

 

[Jerry]

It will be interesting to see if the Q400 service from Belfast City to Keflavik is a success. It's not far short of 900 miles with Bristol-Keflavik over 1100 miles. I quite like turbo-props for short distances but that sort of journey would be a trial to many. There are those who eschew 'propeller' aircraft for any journey.

Could well be a bumpy ride as well as I believe they can't go over 25,000 ft? But what i also noticed is Icelandair have a tie in/codeshare with Flybe as they were offering connections to GLA on the days it wasn't direct.
Hopefully we'll see them pop up at other UK airports.

 

[sierrafoxtrot]

Not sure I would want to go all that way on a turboprop, slower aircraft and dont have the service ceiling of an Airbus, not exactly sure on speeds but am I right in thinking it would take quite a lot longer to reach KEF than a jet aircraft would? It does look unlikely WOW will return to BRS but after tweeting them and asking they dont give much away!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Not sure I would want to go all that way on a turboprop, slower aircraft and dont have the service ceiling of an Airbus, not exactly sure on speeds but am I right in thinking it would take quite a lot longer to reach KEF than a jet aircraft would? It does look unlikely WOW will return to BRS but after tweeting them and asking they dont give much away!

Looking at Wiki the Q400 seems to have a maximum speed of around 400 mph whilst the A 320 is nearly 150mph faster. So there doesn't seem much doubt that the Q400 would take longer to reach KEF from BHD.