WOW Air Announces It Will Permanently End Direct Flights Out of Cleveland at the End of This Month

click to enlarge WOW Air Announces It Will Permanently End Direct Flights Out of Cleveland at the End of This Month
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Last month WOW Air said that while it would temporarily end flights out of Cleveland this season on Oct. 26, it would resume them come spring.

That has changed, according to a statement from the airline, one of two Iceland-based budget-operators that had been servicing Hopkins.

WOW air is disappointed to confirm the cancellation of the service from St. Louis Lambert International Airport this winter, with the final flight from KEF to STL January 6, 2019 and the final flight from STL to KEF on January 7, 2019.

Passengers booked on flights after these dates will be entitled to a full refund, or alternatively can fly with us from one of our other destinations at no additional cost.

It has also been decided that WOW air will not resume flights from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport next year with final flights being in October, 2018

The agreements with both WOW and Icelandair — which happened in the same week — were championed and celebrated with much fanfare. They represented, of course, the rarity of direct flights from Cleveland across the Atlantic, and were cheap to boot.

Cleveland and Hopkins officials had coveted WOW's business, offering $500,000 a year in incentives for marketing as they wooed the airline. The same figure was offered to Icelandair. The Greater Cleveland Partnership also kicked in money.

WOW began flying out of Cleveland in May and announced earlier this year flights would end in October and pick up again in spring. Icelandair made a similar announcement after initially saying it would offer year-round service. Its flights end on Oct. 31 and resume on March 22, 2019.

WOW, meanwhile, isn't coming back.

A request for comment from city officials wasn't immediately returned.
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Vince Grzegorek

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.
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