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A ‘disappointed’ WOW Air drops service in St. Louis

WOW Air will discontinue service from St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Jan. 7.
St. Louis Lambert International Airport
WOW Air will discontinue service from St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Jan. 7.

WOW Air announced Monday that it will suspend its service out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport to Iceland starting Jan. 7.

The Icelandic airline began offering non-stop flights from Lambert to Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport in May.

Airport officials said in a statementMonday that demand had been strong for the flights.

“We’re disappointed because the response from customers across the St. Louis region was strong and we were told we were one of the airline’s top performing markets in the Midwest that were added last spring,” the airport said in a news release.

But on Tuesday WOW released its own statement. In an email, Svana Fridriksdottir, the airline’s vice president of communications, said ticket sales were part of the problem.

“Unfortunately, it has to be said that St Louis was a disappointment for WOW air this summer in terms of end results, with load factors not achieving the targets that were set for the route in the beginning, and compared to other markets in our network,” Fridriksdottir said.

In addition to St. Louis, next year WOW will also suspend its flights from Cincinnati/ North Kentucky International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport with final flights this month.

According to Lambert officials, WOW will no longer be eligible for airport incentives because it discontinued service early. St. Louis Lambert International Airport said it will continue its efforts alongside the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and others to bring more non-stop international services to St. Louisans.

Those who booked flights with WOW after Jan. 7 are eligible for a full refund or could use the airline to travel using a different destination they have available at no additional cost.

Follow Marissanne on Twitter: @Marissanne2011

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Marissanne Lewis-Thompson joined the KRCU team in November 2015 as a feature reporter. She was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri where she grew up watching a lot documentaries on PBS, which inspired her to tell stories. In May 2015, she graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Convergence Journalism. Marissanne comes to KRCU from KBIA, where she worked as a reporter, producer and supervising editor while covering stories on arts and culture, education and diversity.
Marissanne Lewis-Thompson
Marissanne Lewis-Thompson joined St. Louis Public Radio October 2017 as the afternoon newscaster and as a general assignment reporter. She previously spent time as a feature reporter at KRCU in Cape Girardeau, where she covered a wide variety of stories including historic floods, the Bootheel, education and homelessness. In May 2015, she graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Convergence Journalism. She's a proud Kansas City, Missouri native, where she grew up watching a ton of documentaries on PBS, which inspired her to tell stories. In her free time, she enjoys binge watching documentaries and anime. She may or may not have a problem.