A stressed mum of three on holidays here last night told of her anguish at learning of the collapse of “unethical” Wow Air.
Nicole Riley found out through the media the Icelandic carrier had cancelled flights and was forced to shell out over €2,000 for new ones.
The 34-year-old, from Illinois in the US, arrived in Ireland last Friday with her son Keagan, 16, and pal Wes.
The coffee shop owner, who had been due to fly from Dublin to Boston via Keflavik in Iceland next Monday, told the Irish Daily Mirror: “It was stressful to see the news but I tend to switch directly into solution mode rather than panic.
“I looked for flights immediately, knowing they would just continue to increase in price if I waited. Even now I still haven’t received any notification my flight was cancelled.
“The most stressful aspect is the additional cost. We’re not rich by any means, so we’re able to afford to travel by planning and finding great deals.
“I booked directly through my bank card so I’m not due reimbursement as it’s not a credit card.”
Nicole, who has visited Ireland twice before and has Irish ancestry through her grandfather, added: “I don’t even want to think about what other travellers who were leaving sooner are going through. It’s awful. If Wow had some idea it may not work out they should’ve stopped selling tickets and not let anyone fly out who may not get back home. Incredibly unethical.
“It seems all their thought was on profit. As far as I’ve seen they were still selling tickets on Wednesday night.”
Nicole said their trip until yesterday had been great and they have travelled to the west coast and visited Howth in Dublin yesterday.
She added: “The day we after we arrived we learned their negotiations with the American investor had fallen through, so I began watching the news closely.
“In the next couple days they said they had made arrangements with bond holders to convert their debt to equity in the company and expected to move forward as a sustainable company.
Flights between Dublin and Iceland cancelled after budget airline WOW AIR collapses
“Everything seemed to be working out fine.
“Then this morning we woke to see the news all flights were cancelled.
“It’s into the evening now and I’ve still not received notice from WOW.
“If not for checking the news I wouldn’t have known to check for a new flight, and costs would have continued to increase.
“Just in the time I was booking new flights home with Aer Lingus, the price increased by a few hundred dollars.
“The new flight for the three of us cost €2130 plus the money we lost from the original return flight with WOW.”
