Passengers to be gifted free books on Christmas Eve flight.
Low-cost airline WOW air has partnered with leading publishing brand VINTAGE to launch a campaign centered around the Icelandic tradition of sharing books over the festive season.
As part of the campaign, lucky passengers flying from London to Iceland with WOW air on Christmas Eve will receive a special complimentary copy ofA VINTAGE Christmas, featuring stories from notable authors including Charles Dickens, Alice Munro, Louis de Bernières, John Cheever and Arthur Conan Doyle. With an approximate reading time of three hours, the same duration as the flight, the giveaway is intended to allow travellers time to complete the book, before passing it on as a gift.
All passengers will also get a copy of a VINTAGE Classics edition of a book by the Icelandic author and Nobel Literature Prize-winner, Halldór Laxness.
The airline will also be sponsoring three special episodes of the hugely successful VINTAGE podcast, featuring interviews with Icelanders who will share their insights into the publishing and literary industries. The weekly VINTAGE Books podcast features author interviews, book news and discussions on subjects ranging from literary fiction to graphic novels and censorship, receiving over 12k listens every month.
Featured guests on these themed VINTAGE podcast episodes include publisher, Pétur Már Ólafsson; Director of the Icelandic literature festival, Stella Soffía Jóhannesdóttir; winner of the Icelandic Literary Prize 2018, Kristín Eiríksdóttir; product manager for foreign books and bookseller at Peninn Eymundson, Svanborg Sigurðardóttir; one of Iceland’s leading crime writers Ragnar Jonasson; and poet, novelist, and lyricist Sjón. All guests are experts in the literary field, and can speak to the authenticity of Icelandic culture, including their experiences of an Icelandic Christmas.
The first of these episodes, themed around Christmas in Iceland, is available to listen to now on Spotify, iTunes and all the biggest podcast platforms.
Iceland, known for its rich literary history, is one of the most literate countries in the world. Every year Jólabókaflóð, or ‘Christmas Book Flood’ sees hundreds of new volumes appearing in bookshops across the island ahead of Christmas, a tradition since World War II when restrictions on imports made books the most popular gift for Christmas. As a result, the tradition of gifting books and enjoying them with friends and family on Christmas Eve has endured.
Svanhvit Fridriksdottir, VP Communications from WOW air said, “Reading is an important pastime for our nation and our capital city Reykjavik is recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature. We encourage our passengers to make the most of their travel time by bringing a book on board, so we are very excited for this partnership with VINTAGE Books to raise awareness of the national tradition and bring the joy of reading to the skies this Christmas.”
Hattie Adam-Smith, Brand Director at VINTAGE Books said, “At VINTAGE we can’t think of anything better than spending Christmas Eve sharing the gift of books with our loved ones, and reading together long into the night. Iceland has such a wonderful history of storytelling and continues to produce some of the most exciting writers from around the world. Exceptional writing and a passion for books are at the heart of everything we do, so we are delighted to be working on WOW to encourage people to make this Icelandic tradition their own, and read and share books this Christmas Eve.”
For more information and to follow the campaign on social media, go to the hashtag #WOWVINTAGE.
IMAGE PHOTO CREDIT : WOWair and VINTAGE
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For further press information, please contact:
Katie Raby/Arabella Halfhide/Charlotte Wright
T: +44 (0) 20 3440 8930
E: [email protected]
About WOW air:
WOW air is Iceland’s ultra-low-cost transatlantic airline offering cheap fares, a modern fleet with the lowest emissions and the biggest smile; this is the WOW air promise to its valuable customers.
WOW air flies twice-daily from London Gatwick to Reykjavik. As of winter 2018, the airline will serve 35 destinations across Europe and North America, including London, Washington DC, Boston, Los Angeles, Montreal, Toronto and New York.
Created in November 2011 by Icelandic entrepreneur Skúli Mogensen, the purple airline flies with Airbus A320 aircrafts and Airbus A321/A330 models. WOW air boasts one of the world’s youngest fleets, with an average aircraft age of just 2.9 years.
WOW air was ranked as the 7th best low-cost airline in Europe at the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Skytrax World Airline Awards and was the youngest airline in the top ten.
For more information: www.wowair.co.uk.
About VINTAGE Books:
WORLD CLASS WRITING. BEAUTIFUL DESIGN. IDEAS THAT MATTER. VINTAGE publishes some of the world’s most thought-provoking, unforgettable, beautifully designed books – from contemporary trail-blazers such as Haruki Muarakami, Yuval Noah Harari, Ian McEwan and Margaret Atwood, to our red-spine VINTAGE Classics which include George Orwell, Harper Lee, Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemingway. Our broad family of authors ranges from world-class prize-winners to brand new, emerging talent.
More about VINTAGE Books:
www.penguin.co.uk/vintagechristmas
www.penguin.co.uk/vintage
http://www.twitter.com/vintagebooks
http://po.st/VintageInsta
http://po.st/TheVintagePodcast
http://po.st/VintageVlogs
http://po.st/vintagenewsletter
For enquiries about VINTAGE Books and the VINTAGE Books brand please contact:
Hattie Adam-Smith
E: [email protected]
