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02nd Jun 2015

Dream of Seeing the Northern Lights? You Need to Read This

As of today, that dream gets a little bit easier to realise...

Rebecca McKnight

As of today, June 2nd, Iceland’s only low-cost carrier became the first airline to operate scheduled flights direct from Ireland to Iceland.

The inaugural flight on the new WOW air route took off from Dublin Airport this morning with flights operating to Iceland’s capital Reykjavik on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The flight time is two hours and 20 minutes.

News of Wow air’s plan to enter the Irish market first broke eight months ago, with travellers embracing the chance to see the Northern Lights with the help of a budget carrier offering flights from as little as €79 one way.

WOW-air

Summer months offer Iceland’s summer visitors up to 24 hours sunlight to enjoy its famous hot springs and colourful summer festival calendar, while darker winter months offer tourists a chance to catch a glimpse of the breath taking Northern Lights.

WOW air was founded by Icelandic serial entrepreneur Skuli Mogensen in November 2011.

ICELAND - APRIL 2009: EXCLUSIVE. Aurora Kleifarvatn, Iceland, April 2009. Chronological pictures show the secret cycle of the stunning Northern Lights - which are visibly building up year-on-year to a spectacular climax in 2012. Icelandic photographer Orvar Thorgiersson, 35, a software engineer from Reyjavik, is on a mission to document the growing annual intensity of the phenomenon, which can be seen getting brighter and brighter from 2007 to this year. Part of a cosmic rhythm, scientists expect the lights in 2012 to produce a spectacular fireworks display - a crescendo of breathtaking activity high above the Earth. The event will be causeed by the Solar Maximum - a period when the sun's magnetic field on the solar equator rotates at a slightly faster pace than at the solar poles. The solar cycle takes an average of around 11 years to go from one solar maximum to the next - varying between 9 to 14 years for any given solar cycle. The last solar maximum was in 2000 and NASA scientists have predicted that the next one in 2012 will be the greatest since 1958, with some expecting them to be visible as far south as Rome, Italy. The event could even cause disruption to mobile phones, GPS and even the national grid. (Photo by Orvar Atli Thorgeirsson / Barcroft Media / Getty Images)

Last February, Mr. Mogensen was in Dublin to announce WOW air’s transatlantic offering. Beginning today, the airline will also be the first low-cost carrier to fly transatlantic from Dublin, with a new low fare route to the USA for Irish passengers.

WOW air will fly to Boston and Washington DC, via Reykjavik Iceland, from Dublin Airport with fares as low as €197 one way to Boston and €200 one way to Washington DC.

Flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Marking the inaugural flight today, WOW air CEO, Skuli Mogensen said: ‘We are delighted to be the first airline to offer direct flights between Ireland and Iceland. Today’s flight marks the beginning of what will become a strong connection between two countries that share so many similarities. There is great excitement among the people of Iceland to sample what Ireland has to offer and we cannot wait to welcome the Irish to Iceland over the summer months and into the future,’ he said.