A US-based entity that had reportedly purchased all of the assets contained within WOW air's bankruptcy estate was unmasked by business newspaper Viðskiptablaðið as Michele Ballarin, a North Virginia businesswoman, and Oasis Aviation Group, a company she chairs and whose corporate address is at Washington Dulles.

Morgunblaðið has now reported that the company was USAerospace Associates, also linked with Ballarin, and that the purchase has not yet been completed. However, in an interview with Morgunblaðið, Ballarin confirmed her plans to start up a new as-yet-unnamed airline from WOW's assets, to be an Icelandic company with 49% US ownership.

Ballarin claimed that USD85 million had been secured for the operation of the company for the first two years, which could if needed be raised to USD100 million.

Looking at Southwest Airlines as a model, she said she aimed to use three A321-200neo, a model the employees of the now-bankrupt carrier are familiar with, and to increase the size of the fleet to ten to twelve aircraft of the same or similar type within twenty-four months.

Destinations would be similar to those of WOW air, she said, with the addition of Washington Dulles, the location of the headquarters of USAerospace Associates.

On a visit to Iceland last week, Ballarin revealed that she met representatives of airport operator Isavia and Icelandic Transport Authority. Besides resurrecting WOW, she said she discussed with Isavia her intent to fly two cargo aircraft to Iceland carrying goods related to Iceland's fishing industry.