Investor confidence appears to have rebounded following Wizz Air’s decision to pull out of the Middle East and abandon its previously ambitious plans for routes to India and Central Asia. Instead, the budget airline is refocusing on traditional Central and Eastern European markets, where competition is stiff—and rivals seem ready to retreat from some routes as well.

Wizz Air losing ground to Ryanair?

Wizz Air rarely communicates when it drops a route, but it always issues press releases for new or reinstated connections. To the average media consumer, this creates the impression that the Hungary-linked budget carrier is in a constant state of expansion—which is not always the case. We previously reported that starting 28 October, flights to Turin will launch from Budapest, a route that was previously active two years ago before being discontinued.

But alongside the return of an old route, the airline has permanently scrapped its service to Liverpool and Glasgow, while connections to Genoa and Tirana will cease by the end of October. So while Turin is coming back, Genoa is on the way out. As for Tirana, according to okosutas.hu, Ryanair moved aggressively into the Albanian capital starting last summer. Now Wizz Air seems to be backing away, potentially ceding the route.

While this isn’t necessarily indicative of a broader trend, it’s worth noting that Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary previously predicted that within 3–5 years, Wizz Air might no longer exist as an independent entity. Of course, such statements are not uncommon from a fierce competitor. Moreover, Budflyer even speculated that Ryanair may be eyeing a potential acquisition of Wizz Air.