Icelandic aviation: Icelandair vs WOW air

Iceland is the fastest growing trans-Atlantic market to the US in 2018 and the country as a whole will have another year of double digit airline seat growth this year. The two Icelandic airlines, Icelandair and the low cost WOW air, both offer Europe-North America connections via the Reykjavik hub. Their current focus on North American growth is helping to balance their network capacity between that region and Europe.

The two airlines are opening up new markets, both on a point-to-point basis and based on one-stop connections between Europe and North America. Among Icelandair's five new US destinations this summer is Kansas City's first non-stop trans Atlantic service. WOW air has added six US airports this summer, including the first European service to St Louis.

Icelandair Group is feeling the pinch after six years of relentless growth by WOW air. The Group is going through a period of transition, characterised by corporate restructuring (including the sale of its hotels division) and slower growth than in recent years (it is cutting capacity to Europe).

However, although point-to-point overlap between Icelandair and WOW air is quite high, the number of overlapping one-stop Europe-North America connections is lower.