WOW air, the ultra-low-cost transatlantic airline from Iceland, is to begin flying to the US West Coast in summer 2016 with Los Angeles and San Francisco confirmed as their fifth and sixth destinations in North America.

The routes will be serviced by three new Airbus A330-300 aircraft, the first wide-body planes in the WOW air fleet, which will each carry 340 passengers in a single-class configuration.

The routes will connect with daily flights to Keflavik from London Gatwick (and other WOW air destinations in Europe), allowing Brits to travel with the airline to Los Angeles four times per week and San Francisco five times a week, all year round.

Skúli Mogensen, founder, WOW air, said: “We are thrilled to add Los Angeles and San Francisco to our fast growing network. This is a game changer for WOW air as we cement ourselves as the industry leader in the ultra-low-cost long haul category.

“With the addition of these long range A330-300 aircraft to our fleet, we will be able to offer fares from Europe to the US West Coast far cheaper than our competitors whilst maintaining great service with a smile, as we did with our routes to Boston, Washington DC, Toronto and Montreal.

“We have had a tremendously positive response to our low prices on our current transatlantic routes and this gives us confidence that passengers will take up the chance to travel even further afield. Equally, we’re sure Californians will welcome our super low fares to Europe.” 

WOW air’s expansion to California follows the successful launch of transatlantic services from London Gatwick to Boston and Washington DC in early 2015 and the announcement that the airline would begin flying to Montreal and Toronto in May 2016, all via Iceland.

The existing US services now operate year round and maintain consistent carrier loads of 90 per cent plus. WOW air’s entry to the market has already brought prices down industry-wide by 30 per cent between Boston and Iceland and by 14 per cent on flights between Boston and the UK.

Launched in November 2011, WOW air now connects twenty destinations across the US and Europe with the Icelandic capital.