WowAir: how is it so cheap?

Next month, I'll be flying from the US to London for $150 with WowAir. A friend asked me today, not without trepidation, how WowAir can possibly be so cheap. Are the planes safe?


Now, I used to have similar fears; I had a dream back in high school that my entire high school band got $15 flights to California, but while I was on the plane, I noticed that it was made entirely of cardboard.

(This image is brought to you by my pal T. Ruth and her doge, Tomo.)

WowAir, thankfully, does not have planes made of cardboard.

I will give a more thorough review once I've actually flown with them, but here are a couple of ways in which they save money:

1. No movies on-board. (This is in marked contrast with Norwegian Air, the other discount transatlantic airline.)
2. 5 kg free carry-on limit. 5 kg is like 11 pounds. This is ridiculous.
3. Brief layover in Iceland. I imagine the plane can stop here and refuel, as Iceland is between the US and Europe.

For $150, it's hard to complain, but man, not having movies for a flight that long is a BIG bummer.