Iceland’s Wow Air has stopped flights, stranding thousands of passengers.
Its website says Wow Air has ceased operations and cancelled all flights. Wow says passengers needing to travel should book with other airlines.
The carrier, which had been in funding talks with investors, flew from London Stansted and Gatwick in the UK.
It said some airlines may offer flights at a reduced rate, so-called rescue fares, and it would publish information on those when it becomes available.
The travel editor of the Independent, Simon Calder, said in these situations other airlines would step in as they did not seek to make money out of “a bad situation”.
He said passengers should not spend “a fortune on alternative flights unless you were in a real hurry”.
Airlines including Wizz Air, Easyjet and Norwegian were offering flights, he added.
Wow’s website suggests a range of possible methods of redress.
It said passengers covered by various protected booking methods, including booking by credit card or through a European travel agent, should try to get their money back from them.
Otherwise it says they could be entitled to some compensation from Wow, “including in accordance with European regulation on Air Passenger Rights”, or, in case of a bankruptcy, claims should be filed to the administrator or liquidator.
Wow was founded in 2011 by its chief executive, Skuli Mogensen. It started flights in 2012 and grew to employ 1,000 people, carrying 3.5 million passengers last year in its 11 aircraft.
It operated both short and long haul routes, flying to Copenhagen and Alicante in Europe and Washington and Boston in the US.
A number of airlines have run into financial trouble recently, with factors such as higher fuel bills and excess capacity in the sector contributing to their problems.
