Icelandic low-cost airline WOW Air has grounded its flights leaving thousands of passengers stranded on Thursday morning.
The heavily in debt airline has been searching for a financial backer for the past few months. According to the Independent, the airline is believed to owe roughly £150 million.
The carrier operates between Iceland, Europe and North America. Founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Skúli Mogensen, it employs roughly 1,000 people.
In a statement published on its website the Icelandic carrier said that it was in the final negotiation stages with a group of investors.
“WOW air is in the final stages of finalising equity raise with a group of investors. All flights have been postponed until documentation with all parties involved have been finalised,” the message read.
It said that further information will be delivered at 9 am local time, which is 10 am GMT.
The company informed all of its passenger via text message/email. It said that passengers scheduled to fly to and from Iceland with the airline on Thursday are entitled to cancelling their reservation for a full refund, or change their flight to the next available WOW air flight.
The suspension of flights disrupts the travel plans of thousands of its passengers. It still remains unclear how long the disruption is set to last.
Elsewhere in aviation, EasyJet (LON:EZJ), Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Italy’s state controlled railway entered in discussion to form a consortium in order to rescue the struggling Italian carrier, Alitalia.
Ryanair (LON:RYA) posted a loss for its third quarter, joining a list of airlines facing rising costs and overcapacity that are both weakening margins.
Equally, Hungarian Airline Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) saw its profits plummet in the third quarter of 2018 amid rising fuel and staff costs.
