Declining fuel prices, China's economic woes and global instability have created a "buyers' market" for new aircraft, Wow Air chief executive Skuli Mogensen believes.
Speaking to Flightglobal during the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in London, Mogensen noted a "very interesting situation right now", adding: "You have historically very low oil prices and, due to the unfortunate unrest around the world and the Chinese economy slowing down... many of those economies have been the drivers for the growth in the airline industry.
"So if they are now delaying their new aircraft, or even in some places reducing their capacity, meaning more aircraft will come to the market... I think this is a great opportunity for us."
Mogensen describes the airline industry as "extremely cyclical" and says "buy to fly" time is getting "shorter and shorter", which means "your visibility into the future is becoming shorter and shorter", creating new fleet and network opportunities.
While there are currently no new orders planned, Mogensen says he is open to potentially acquiring Airbus A320neo or A321neo aircraft, and describes the Icelandic carrier as "opportunistic" in its fleet planning strategy.
But he cautions that the airline has "just now learnt how to walk" and that before any "massive orders" would require a "different model" and capital. Additions to the fleet would likely be by "lease or purchase lease", he adds.
However, he does say that "within the next couple of years" the airline could "certainly entertain doing the Neo type or Neo-style" operation on North American routes.
Mogensen rules out ordering Boeing aircraft, saying he is "very happy with our Airbus fleet".
Flightglobal's Ascend Fleets database shows the Reykjavik-based carrier currently has a fleet of three A320s and two A321s.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
