The new Icelandic airline founded from the bankruptcy of WOW air will be called PLAY. The company’s representatives held a press conference in Reykjavík’s Perlan building this morning to present the new company’s name as well as details of its coming operations. PLAY will swap out WOW’s quintessential fuschia colour for red.
According to PLAY’s CEO Arnar Már Magnússon, the colour red was chosen to represent passion as well as Icelandic nature. At the press conference, Arnar shed light on the company’s preparations during the past few months as well as its goals for the near future.
Last September, Michele Ballarin held a press conference in Iceland announcing her company USAerospace Associates’ purchase of WOW air’s assets, and their intention to resurrect the airline. At that time, Ballarin announced the airline would begin operations in October. Last month, that date was delayed until December and it was stated that the new airline would focus on cargo transport before it began operating passenger flights.
Operating licence in the works
PLAY will operate jets from the Airbus A320 family. Arnar pointed out that the short- to medium-range jets can carry both cargo and passengers to all of the airline’s planned destinations. Arnar stated that the company has yet to obtain an air operating licence, but is in the final stages of the process.
The airline will begin operations with flights to Europe, but plans to eventually operate flights to North America as well. Flights west across the Atlantic are expected to begin next spring, when the airline’s fleet will increase to six aircraft. Arnar declined to give details about specific destinations, but stated that PLAY plans to operate ten aircraft within the first three years of operations.
The airline’s website is up and running, and ticket sales are scheduled to begin this month. The airline is giving away 1,000 tickets to mark the beginning of operations. Arnar stated that PLAY will need an enormous amount of staff in a variety of positions, including flight crew and pilots. Positions in marketing, finance, programming, and customer service will also be available.
Controversial cargo?
“PLAY consists of people with a wide range of experience from the aviation industry from airlines such as WOW air and Air Atlanta,” reads a press release on the company’s website. The latter airline made headlines in March last year when it came to light that they had been transporting weapons to Saudi Arabia. Icelandic politicians have expressed concerns over PLAY’s intended cargo transport, as airlines under Ballarin’s leadership have partaken in weapons transport as well.
