More than two years since Iceland’s WOW air went bankrupt, the company that purchased its assets has applied for an air operating licence from the Icelandic Transport Authority, RÚV reports. Airline management specialist Ögmundur Gíslason, who is working for the new owner of WOW, says there are plans to rebuild the defunct airline. Ögmundur says it will take a few months for the licence application to be processed.
Following the bankruptcy of low-cost airline WOW air in March 2019, the company’s assets were purchased by Michelle Roosevelt Edwards, known until last year as Michelle Ballarin. The resurrected airline was originally set to take to the skies in late 2019, but the launch has yet to happen.
Edwards is something of an enigma and has made several claims to Icelandic reporters that have not proven true. In November 2020, she gave an interview to an Icelandic television crew at a Virginia mansion she claimed was her home. The Washington Post reported last week that she did not in fact own the property and accessed it without the knowledge of its true owner. In the interview, Edwards also claimed other parties owned shares in Icelandair on her behalf and there were plans to merge the company with WOW air.
The news of WOW air’s resurrection comes during the same week that a different low-cost airline will launch in Iceland. PLAY, founded by former WOW air executives, will fly its inaugural flight tomorrow. Ögmundur stated the success of the company was irrelevant to the fledgling WOW air. “It doesn’t matter if PLAY is successful or not.”
