Wizz Air

Cheaper tickets? Departure tax change for airlines in Hungary

Wizz Air Airbus A321neo

The Hungarian government plans to introduce a progressive taxation system for airlines. This might result in reduced ticket prices later down the line. The new regulation will go live from January of the following year. The recent ruling will be based on a new, greener approach which will encourage more environmentally friendly thinking for airlines.

According to hvg.hu, the departure tax for most airlines will decrease. The new taxation system will be progressive. The departure tax for each flight will depend on the carbon emissions of the flight, instead of a unified system. Airlines will have to pay taxes depending on the destination of the travel. Experts say that most routes and airlines will be positively affected by the new regulation. The bottom line of the new taxes was drawn exactly at the rates with which cheap airlines work. This might result in cheaper ticket prices.

Cheaper flights?

The new regulation was a surprise to say the least, reports okosutas.hu. There are now three categories based on the “greenness” of the flight. The bottom line is below 10.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide emitted, this is considered to be the greenest flight. For it, the taxes were reduced to HUF 2,700 (EUR 6.7) inside Europe and HUF 6,800 (EUR 16.85) outside of it. The middle line is between 10.5 to 17.5 kilograms emitted. Here, the tax rate remains unchanged at HUF 3,900 (EUR 9.6) inside Europe and HUF 9,750 (EUR 24.2) outside of it. The most polluting category is above 17.5 kilograms emitted. Flights like these we cost more for the airlines as the taxes were increased for this category. Inside Europe, the tax for a flight will cost HUF 5,100 (EUR 12.6) and outside HUF 12,700 (EUR 31.5).

The change is absolutely positive and the Hungarian regulation is aligned with global taxation trends. This change encourages more environmentally friendly behaviour for airlines. In Europe, the greenest fleet is operated by Wizz Air and Ryanair follows closely. Therefore, it is likely that the aeroplanes of Wizz Air will be in the bottom category. Thanks to the new regulation, the operating costs for cheap flights are reduced. However, this does not mean that the price of tickets will be reduced.

The lower operating costs will make Hungarian routes more profitable. This means that fewer flights are expected to be deleted, which is also great news. Since the introduction of the departure tax, both airlines deleted routes and did not announce any new ones. So, the answer is most likely that flights will not become cheaper. At least, flights to Budapest will become more accessible.

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Wizz Air named Global Environmental Sustainability Airline of the year!

Hungarian brands Wizz Air

Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing airline, has been named Global Environmental Sustainability Airline Group of the Year at the inaugural CAPA (Centre for Aviation) Asia Aviation Summit and Sustainability Expo in Singapore. The airline also received recognition as the EMEA Environmental Sustainability Airline of the Year.

The CAPA Environmental Sustainability Awards for Excellence recognise airlines and airports who put climate change at the forefront of their business and strive for carbon neutrality. The awards are independently researched by CAPA’s Analysts and carbon reduction strategists, Envest Global. CAPA, part of the Aviation Week Network, is one of the world’s most trusted sources of market intelligence for the aviation and travel industry.

Wizz Air is proud to have the lowest CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre in Europe and is committed to further reducing its CO2 emissions by 25% by 2030. As part of our ambitious fleet renewal plan, the airline has been continuously adding new Airbus A321neo aircraft to its fleet and currently operates one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient fleets in the world, with an average age of 4.6 years.

Wizz Air is the biggest operator of the Airbus A321neo in Europe and has one of the largest standalone order books globally of over 370 state-of-the-art Airbus A321neo aircraft, which will help the airline to meet its sustainability targets. On top of fleet renewal, the operational teams are constantly working on fuel efficiency initiatives and improving the related data science.

József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, said: “We are truly honoured to receive this prestigious recognition by CAPA, naming Wizz Air as the most environmentally sustainable airline not only in Europe but also globally. When it comes to decarbonizing aviation, Wizz Air is laser focused on the technology and innovations available here and now. We are confident that by investing in the most modern aircraft and engines we will be able to continuously reduce passengers’ carbon footprint and deliver the targeted CO2 intensity decrease by 2030 and beyond. We stay committed to making Wizz Air the most environmentally efficient choice of air travel.”

CAPA – Centre for Aviation, said: “Wizz Air has shown itself as a leader in the environmental sustainability aviation space. Results from CAPA’s Environmental Sustainability Airline Benchmarking Reports in both 2021 and 2022 had Wizz Air as one of the top performing carriers across most categories. It is our pleasure to award Wizz Air as CAPA’s EMEA and Global Sustainable Airline of the year.”

The original article was posted by WizzAir.com.

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Wizz Air is profitable again!

Wizz Air plane flight

Hungarian airline Wizz Air has closed the second quarter of its 2022 financial year. It carried 14.3 million passengers, almost 56 percent more than in the same period in 2021.

The company’s revenue was EUR 1.385 billion. In available passenger kilometres, or ASK, the growth rate was 37.9 percent.

The occupancy rate also increased from 79.9 percent to 88.8 percent, vg. hu reports. After a previous loss of EUR 6.5 million, the airline made a profit of EUR 68.2 million this time.

In the first half of 2022, Wizz Air carried 26.5 million passengers, an increase of 112 percent.

From Budapest Airport you can travel to 106 destinations this winter.

Wizz Air Romania
Read alsoWizz Air will smoothly conquer Romania

Wizz Air will smoothly conquer Romania

Wizz Air Romania

Professionals forecasted the bankruptcy of Blue Air, the Romanian low-cost airline way earlier than the company issued its announcement. However, it seems that only the Hungarian ultra-low-cost airline, Wizz Air, would like to fill the market gap. The Hungary-based company’s greatest European rival, the Irish Ryanair, remained undecided.

Wizz Air started to recruit in Romania almost immediately

Wizz Air recruited 300 flight attendants in Romania this year. Furthermore, on 28 October, they started a recruitment campaign during which they concentrate on the Eastern counties of the country, including even the poorest one, Suceava. The aim is to fill the market gap opened by the bankruptcy of Blue Air, which previously dominated the region. Therefore, Wizz Air opened a base in Suceava with two Airbus A321neo planes. Now, they offer flights from 11 Romanian airports. Furthermore, a new Airbus A321neo plane will arrive in December at the Iaşi base, connecting the capital of Romania’s Moldova region with Memmingen, Basel-Mulhouse and Copenhagen.

Wizz Air’s Romanian recruitment campaign focuses on Bacau (Bákó) and Botoşani. However, they will not forget Bucharest, Cluj Napoca (Kolozsvár), Craiova, Sibiu (Nagyszeben), and Timisoara (Temesvár) either, turizmus.com said.

The eastern regions of Romania are crucial for the airline because these are the poorest territories where many people choose to work in other states of the European Union. Thus, regular flights to popular European destinations are important. Workers do not mind which low-cost airline they will have to pick.

Moreover, Wizz Air wanted to attract the flight attendants and pilots of Blue Air already back in September. They offered high salaries and professional development opportunities.

Wizz Air Hungary airline Romania
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Moldovan base to close due to Russian attacks

Based on the statistics of news.ro, Bucharest’s Henri Coandă International Airport registered 226 delays (> 60 mins) between 20 and 26 October. 150 of them were Wizz Air flights. Out of the six cancelled flights in that period four were Wizz Air. The explanation listed technical reasons and the ongoing strikes at the Italian airports.

Even so, it seems Wizz Air has no competitors in the Romanian market. Ryanair is concerned with its domestic problems. They held a recruitment day in Bucharest on 28 October but wanted to hire only mechanics for several European bases. That means they do not intend to expand on the Romanian market.

The other Romanian airline, Tarom, has been unprofitable for years. For instance, in the first half of 2022, their loss exceeded 40 million euros. Romania’s transport minister, Sorin Grindeanu, has been talking about the necessity of restructuring the airline for a long while, but without any substantial measures.

Meanwhile, aerotime.aero wrote that Wizz Air would close its Moldovan base at Chisinau International Airport (KIV) for an “indefinite period”. That means ceasing flights to Paris (BVA), Brussels (CLR), Basel (BSL), and Turin (TRN). But they said they would continue to operate one-way flights to Chisinau from various European cities. Wizz Air reasoned the decision with the insecurity of Moldova’s airspace violated by Russian missiles launched at Ukraine from Russian ships earlier in October.

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Wizz Air might deduct money from your account without notice: here is why

Wizz Air crew Hungarian airline

Passengers are still not notified separately about expiring credits by Wizz Air. In response to a question from Napi.hu about the quite deceptive commercial practice, the airline thanked for the warning and promised to correct the error.

Money randomely deducted from Wizz Air accounts

As we reported back in the summer, Napi.hu reported that passengers were unhappy that certain amounts had been unexpectedly deducted from their Wizz Air accounts without any prior warning. Zsolt Varga, the writer of the napi.hu article says that just like then, some thousands and tens of thousands of forints continue to disappear from passengers’ Wizz accounts without notice. The only the word that appears next to them is “withdrawal”, without any explanation of exactly what happened.

Wizz Air promised a quick fix

When napi.hu brought this to Wizz Air’s attention, they acknowledged the error and promised a quick fix. “The word “felvétel” next to the credit is due to an unfortunate translation error: an incorrect Hungarian translation of the original English word “withdrawal”. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we will correct it immediately,” they wrote.

No notification for soon-to-expire credits

In addition to this translation error, Wizz Air has permanently cancelled the advance notification of soon-to-expire credits, napi.hu writes. Now, if passengers are not vigilant, they could lose out. Previously, they had been reminded that the amount in their Wizz account was about to expire, meaning that it would no longer be available for future use.

In addition to the lack of prior information, non-expiring credits have also been given an expiry date. According to the company, “the expiry date is available in the app and on the web interface, so you can keep track of when it will expire and how long it can be used”. However, many customers still complain that they do not see the expiry date when they log into their account on the Wizz Air website.

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Will Hungarian Wizz Air become Romania’s national airline?

Wizz Air Hungary airline Romania

You would never guess where the biggest base of Hungary’s Wizz Air has in Europe. Yes, it is Bucharest, Romania’s capital. And the Hungarian “national” airline would not like to stop there. Media reported that Wizz Air aims to be the “national airline” of Hungary’s eastern neighbour. Will the company be successful in that?

Wizz Air has clear goals

According to maszol.ro, a Hungarian media outlet in Romania, Wizz Air is gradually increasing the number of flights in the country.

Now it aims to fill the space created by the disappearance of the Romanian low-cost airline, Blue Air. The Romanian carrier suspended operation in September. Afterwards, the Hungarian budget airline opened three new routes in Romania. Furthermore, it increased the number of flights in other directions, maszol.ro wrote.

József Váradi, the CEO of the Hungarian airline, said they moved forward but face a lack of free capacity. “Even though we have 171 planes, they are all in the air. We cannot move our carriers that quickly, but we will see what we can do next year”, Mr Váradi added. Váradi gave an interview to the Romanian economica.net, which you can read HERE provided your talents include the Romanian language.

Wizz Air plane Ukraine All You Can Fly
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If Tarom ceases operation Wizz Air will react

Wizz Air cancelled some of their routes recently, including their Sarajevo course. It redirected the newly gained capacity to Bucharest, just like the newly-purchased planes. Therefore, Bucharest became the company’s biggest operational base. But Cluj Napoca (Kolozsvár) and Iași (Jászvásár) in Moldova are also increasing. József Váradi cleared that they would like to become Romania’s “national airline” in practice.

The Hungarian budget airline monitors the developments regarding its other regional competitor, the Tarom, which is on the life support of the Bucharest government. “I cannot analyse the state of the Tarom. I do not know the [Romanian] government’s intentions. We do not count on the collapse of the Tarom. But if it happens, we will react to the situation”, the CEO added.

Wizz Air is Central Europe’s boggest airline. Currently, its market share reaches 23 percent. Its staff include 6,500 employees, while it reaches 190 European and non-European cities, destinations.

 

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Wizz Air can become the best airline of 2022

Wizz Air plane Ukraine All You Can Fly

The Hungarian ultra-low-cost airline was shortlisted in the best airline category at the Routes Awards 2022 in Las Vegas.

According to croatiaweek.com, in the best airline category, there are American Airlines, KLM, Qatar Airways, Volotea and Wizz Air. Based on routesonline.com, the competition will be announced at Routes World in Las Vegas on 17 October. 

Who makes the shortlist?

“When voting closes, airports and destinations are split into their relevant categories and their scores are calculated, based on the airline votes they have received. For the airline category, the number of votes is calculated and those carriers with the most votes from airports and destinations are shortlisted. For individual categories, initial nominations are reviewed by an editorial panel looking for evidence of the judging criteria”, routesonline.com wrote.

According to them, the Airline Awards’ goal is to celebrate carriers providing support to airports and destinations and generating economic growth in the regions, where they operate. They aim to award companies that created successful and profitable routes.

Wizz Air Airbus A321neo
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Below you may find the schedule of the competition:

Voting opens Tuesday 19 July 2022
Voting closes Friday 19 August 2022
Companies and individuals shortlisted Tuesday 23 August 2022
Deadline for submissions to be received by Routes Friday 16 September 2022
Results announced at Routes World in Las Vegas Monday 17 October 2022
 
 
Wizz Air plane flight
Read alsoWizz Air: the departure tax is not our biggest problem

Wizz Air: 25 times the number of flight cancellations

Wizz Air Airbus A321neo

Wizz Air CEO József Váradi gave an interview in which he talked about the chaotic conditions at airports, frequent cancellations, strikes and rising airfares. Despite all these issues, people are still eager to book flights, he pointed out. According to Váradi, travel should not be considered a luxury commodity.

Mounting issues

Demand after the pandemic has grown faster than the aviation industry expected, which explains in some way all the cancellations and delays. There were not enough air traffic controllers, airport staff, or security personnel.

Wizz Air has cancelled as many flights as the European average, precisely 6.5 percent. Finding staff for air traffic control seems to pose the biggest issue as it takes 2-3 years to train one person. At other departments, it is much faster to train new staff, said József Váradi, CEO of Wizz Air, in an interview with rtl.hu.

“We are set up to be very efficient, which means that if the supply chain is not working, our model cannot function properly either,” Váradi said.

Váradi said they had overcome the hardships and drawn conclusions. They were now focusing on the Christmas rush and the next summer season.

Wizz Air cancelled 25 times as many flights as in the past. It is impossible to handle such a load overnight. Inadequate capacity has raised the voices of discontent over the summer. “It was physically impossible to respond to a twenty-five-fold swelling problem overnight.”

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Wizz Air expands

Wizz Air currently has 170 aircraft. 435 new Airbus aircraft have been ordered for the next 7-8 years. This year, they expect to serve 53 million passengers, and in the future, they plan to expand this number to 150-160 million travellers per year. At the same time, the current 1,000 flights a day could be increased to 3,000 flights a day.

Wizz Air aims to be one of the top three airlines in Europe. Wizz Air has been growing in the Central and Eastern European market as well as in the UK, Austria and Italy.

Váradi believes there is “a well-established cooperation between Wizz Air and the Hungarian government, which is successful and mutually beneficial.” Váradi and Wizz Air’s goals remain to ensure that travel will not become a luxury commodity, despite the difficult financial situation.

10 years in Debrecen

Wizz Air and Debrecen International Airport jointly celebrated 10 years of successful cooperation. In 2012, the first Wizz Air flight took off from Debrecen and headed to London-Luton. Since then, 2.1 million passengers have chosen Wizz Air flights, writes turizmusonline.hu.

“Debrecen has experienced outstanding development over the past decade and we are proud that this boom and economic recovery is partly due to Wizz Air’s operation in the city. We aim to continue to be part of the success of Debrecen and Debrecen International Airport,” said Váradi.

Wizz Air plane flight
Read alsoWizz Air: the departure tax is not our biggest problem

Wizz Air: the departure tax is not our biggest problem

Wizz Air plane flight

Wizz Air carries a third more passengers today than before the pandemic. However, the weakening forint, the strengthening dollar and the plunge in oil prices are weakening the airline’s position. The Hungarian low-cost airline has not incorporated the departure tax into its ticket prices, József Váradi, the company’s CEO, told HVG.

HVG asked József Váradi, CEO of Wizz Air, about the cost of the departure tax for the company and how they are trying to recover it, whether they are planning domestic flights, and how the investigation into the summer flight cancellations is progressing.

On cost increases and the departure tax

The CEO pointed out that the general trend in the industry is for prices to rise as costs increase. Wizz Air is also negatively affected by the weak euro and the rising price of kerosene, while technological improvements and fleet renewal are driving prices down. However, Váradi added that the upward price effect is expected to be stronger in the next 1-2 years.

As for the special tax, Váradi said that it would mean a 3-4 percent increase in costs for the company. This is relatively low compared to the fact that the weight of kerosene in costs has increased from 30 percent to 50 percent before the pandemic and the euro has weakened 20 percent against the dollar, Portfolio. As for the fuel hedging, Váradi said that from April 2023, the company’s hedging scope will revert to the pre-pandemic period. However, the truth is that the company is not well funded in the current period, he added.

On Ryanair

On Ryanair’s flight cuts in Hungary, the CEO said that the reason behind them was not necessarily the departure tax, but rather that the competitor had brought in unprofitable capacity to gain market share. As for international expansion, Váradi said that this is the reason why the Wizz Air group now carries 33 percent more passengers than before the pandemic, making it the fastest growing airline in Europe. The CEO did not provide any new information on the consumer protection case against the company, but stressed that the delays and cancellations were caused by a dysfunctional operating environment.

“We don’t consider ourselves fundamentally responsible for this: if you look at the cancellations in Europe, Wizz Air cancelled just as many as the European average, we were not at all out of line.” As for future targets, Váradi said that by 2030 they would like to have a fleet of 500 aircraft, up from the current 170. Wizz Air will remain a Central and Eastern European airline, but the company is also expanding in Western Europe and sees opportunities in the East, he added.

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An airport in the Balkans is going to replace Hungarian Wizz Air’s services with that of Ryanair?

ryanair wizz air

Sarajevo Airport in the Balkans is in conversation with Ryanair to replace the Hungarian Wizz Air. Ryanair already has multiple ongoing operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Wizz Air suspended 17 of the 19 routes to Sarajevo International Airport (SJJ)

After Wizz Air’s departure from Sarajevo International Airport (SJJ), Ryanair might be the one to replace the Hungarian airline. SJJ airport has already began talks with Ryanair to add flights to replace the few that were to be suspended, reports simpleflying.com. Even though now these routes are only suspended, Wizz Air may leave for good. Therefore, Ryanair could be a great option for the airport in the Balkans. Sarajevo Airport had previously described the opening of Wizz Air’s base as being of “strategic interest for Bosnia and Herzegovina”, writes exyuaviation.com.

Wizz Air’s departure cuts off Sarajevo Airport from important European destinations

With Wizz Air’s departure, Sarajevo Airport is losing all flights to Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Italy, as well as year-round operations to Sweden, Denmark and Norway. This leaves a significant market gap and it looks like Ryanair is the main candidate. Ryanair is Europe’s largest airline and it entered the Bosnian air transit market in 2018. That was the first time Ryanair opened a route servicing the nation’s Banja Luka International Airport (BNX). Now it operates routes to seven cities around the region from BNX. However, the airline is launching its route connecting BNX with Berlin, Germany, at the end of October.

Ryanair is expanding its routes

While Wizz Air is pulling nearly all services from SJJ, Ryanair is expanding. In addition to its new operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the carrier will launch operations to Tuzla in November. TZL will be serviced from Stockholm, Memmingen, and Vienna. The director of route development for Ryanair, Ray Kelliher, said: “We look forward to growing in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the coming years and being able to announce more new and exciting routes for next summer.”

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Wizz Air’s online booking system to be offline for a few hours tomorrow

Wizz Air

Wizz Air has informed Daily News Hungary about the maintenance of its online booking system:

“Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing airline, will soon start maintenance work on its online booking system. The company’s web interface and mobile app will be unavailable from 23:00 Hungarian time on 4 October until 4:00 a.m. on 5 October. Therefore, in order to ensure a smooth journey, the airline asks its passengers concerned to book flights and check-in online before the planned and announced stopover and to bring their boarding passes to the airport with them, either photocopied or printed. Wizz Air would also like to point out that during the maintenance period, passengers will not be able to modify their existing reservations or make changes to them via the customer service.

During the outage, passengers who were unable to check-in online will be able to redeem their boarding passes free of charge at the check-in counters until 23:59 on 5 October. In order to avoid long queues, Wizz Air recommends that travellers arrive at the airport three hours before the departure of their flights during the affected period.”

Wizz Air Airbus A321neo
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Wizz Air passengers left stranded in Romania – UPDATE

Runway Wizz Air

After spending a luxurious week in an all-inclusive hotel in Bulgaria, the British couple, Steve Fludder and Emma Bradley (both 39) wanted to return to their home in Liverpool, United Kingdom. However, after their Wizz Air flight started to take off from the runway of a Bucharest Airport, it hit something. Minor damage was reported, and their hellish experience began.

Wizz Air plane’s engine damaged

According to stokesentinel.co.uk, Steve and his girlfriend, Emma, started their vacation at the Liverpool Airport more than one week ago. They booked a budget-friendly package holiday via Love Holidays, spending a week in an all-inclusive hotel near Varna, Bulgaria. Everything went perfectly until their homeward journey.

They wanted to get home on Tuesday, bought their ticket and occupied their seats on the Hungarian Wizz Air’s flight from Bucharest to Liverpool. However, shortly after the plane began to ascend, it hit a flock of birds.

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A hotel without unoccupied rooms

The scheduled take-off of the plane was 6.15 AM. After the emergency landing, the Hungary-based airline updated the departure to 10.30 AM. However, at 10.25 AM, they asked all passengers to leave the aircraft. They added that their new flight to Liverpool would leave only on 8 October, so they have to wait for more than one week.

Afterwards, two hours passed until Emma, Steve and two other couples were taken to a hotel four hours away from the Bucharest International Airport. After they arrived, the nightmare continued since the hotel manager said they did not have any spare rooms for them.

They had to wait until 10.30 PM to get an out-of-service room. “It wasn’t used, it wasn’t a nice room,” Steve said. A spokesperson for Love Holidays said: “We are sorry to hear of Mr Fludder’s experience after Wizz Air cancelled his flight at short notice. We are in regular contact with Mr Fludder and are on hand to speak further to his airline, as required, to ensure his situation is resolved as quickly as possible.”

UPDATE – Wizz Air comments

The incident, inaccurately published by originally LancsLive and stokesentinel.co.uk, was in fact a rejected take-off on 27 September 2022 due to a bird strike. Minor damage was reported and the aircraft was immediately returned to service following maintenance. There was no fire and no flames. Consequently, the false article greatly damages the reputation of Wizz Air, the Hungarian airline wrote us in an e-mail.

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Chaos at Wizz Air: passengers who were heading to Budapest were stuck in Stockholm

Wizz Air plane flight

A Wizz Air flight from Stockholm to Budapest was supposed to take off at 9 p.m. on Sunday. However, the flight was postponed to Monday. On top of that, as the airline failed to arrange accommodation, the passengers had to spend the entire night at the airport. 

Wizz Air plane had a technical issue

Wizz Air has been experiencing difficulties lately, causing inconveniences for hundreds of passengers. This Sunday (09.26), a flight from Stockholm to Budapest was supposed to take off at 9 p.m. However, the flight was postponed to Monday. Travellers received the first notification around 5 p.m. that the plane was expected to have a 40-minute delay, a passenger wrote to 444.hu. The check-in had already started at that point but it was abruptly stopped. Nobody knew exactly how much the waiting time would be as passengers did not receive any further information. At around 1 a.m, the pilot announced that they were dealing with a technical issue. Therefore, the departure was postponed to 2 p.m., the following day.

Passengers did not receive the promised accommodation

Although Wizz Air assured passengers that the company would arrange accommodation, the promise did not pan out, reports blikk.hu. Initially, the passengers were directed to the waiting room, where they stayed for two hours. Following that, they received information that the earliest plane, which was supposed to leave for Budapest on Monday morning, was full. The unfortunate travelers had to spend the night at the airport. According to the latest information, the plane would take off at 2:40 p.m. at the earliest on Monday instead of the 9 p.m. departure on Sunday. Wizz Air has not yet commented on the incident.

This is not the first time Wizz Air passengers got stranded at the airport

The Hungarian airline has already let down its passengers numerous times. For instance, on 15 May, Wizz Air left its passengers in Paris, who were supposed to fly to Budapest. The flight from the Hungarian capital could not land at Paris Orly Airport due to a major storm. As a result, the plane was diverted to Brussels. Finally, airport staff helped people to reach some local hotels in the area at around 2 a.m.

Hungarian Wizz Air ready to conquer the Middle East

Wizz Air Airbus A321neo

The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air has announced 11 new routes and is ready to conquer the Middle East. However, most of the routes have competition from other airlines. 

The new routes of Wizz Air

According to simpleflying.com, the new routes are the following:

  • Athens to Tel Aviv
  • London Luton to Łódź
  • London Luton to Bydgoszcz
  • Rome Fiumicino to Gothenburg
  • Rome Fiumicino to Paris Orly
  • Rome Fiumicino to Barcelona
  • Rome Fiumicino to Valencia
  • Rome Fiumicino to Porto
  • Rome Fiumicino to Seville
  • Rome Fiumicino to Malaga
  • Tirana to Athens

The Hungarian airline has only operated one of these routes before (London Luton to Łódź), between September 2011 and May 2013. In addition, 10 of the 11 routes involve bases, therefore, they are simple there-and-back operations. Only Athens to Tel Aviv does not fall into this category and will use Albania-based aircraft and crew.

Wizz Air’s Polish network is expanding

Adding Łódź and Bydgoszcz means that there will be 12 Polish airports involved. These are Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Katowice, Kraków, Łódź, Lublin, Olsztyn-Mazury, Poznan, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Warsaw Chopin, and Wrocław. As Łódź is very close to Warsaw, it has not attracted Wizz Air back so far. However, the situation has changed and now, Poland’s third-largest city is joining Wizz Air.

Saudi Arabia

Wizz Air Holdings Plc also aims to establish a fleet of 50 aircraft at a new unit in Saudi Arabia. “The LCC hopes to achieve the target fleet size by the end of the decade, although Chief Executive József Varádi stressed that the priority was finding a local partner,” writes ch-aviation.com. The newly established fleet in Saudi Arabia serves the purpose of developing its aviation market to rival carriers from smaller Gulf states and attracting more tourists. “The first and foremost process is to find the right partnership with local investors, and this is what we’re working on. Once this gets sorted out, then we can complete the formal process of an airline application,” Varádi said.

Wizz Air to add 75 A321neo aircraft to fleet

Wizz Air Airbus A321neo

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air on Monday said it negotiated the purchase of 75 new A321neo aircraft from Airbus.

Wizz Air will take delivery of most of the more fuel-efficient aircraft in 2028-2029.

“The combination of Wizz Air’s ultra-low cost operation and the market-leading Airbus A321neo aircraft together create a strong platform for Wizz Air’s future growth in the coming decade as we further strengthen our position as one of the world’s most sustainable airlines,” CEO Jozsef Varadi said.

“We remain on track to become a 500 aircraft airline group by the end of the decade while delivering our commitment to reduce our already industry-leading CO2 emissions by 25pc by 2030,” he added.

Wizz Air has a fleet of 165 Airbus aircraft at present. They are one of the youngest short-haul fleets in the world.

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Wizz Air plane escaped Ukraine!

Wizz Air plane Ukraine All You Can Fly

Multiple Wizz Air planes remained stuck in Ukraine after Russia started its invasion of the country. It seems one of them could escape on Tuesday. Below, you may read the details.

József Váradi, the CEO of the Hungarian low-cost airline, confirmed in May that Wizz Air had four planes in the war-torn country. In May, all of them were undamaged. One was in Lviv, while three were in Kyiv.

Based on the latest information, the one in Kyiv, an Airbus A320, could escape and was flew to Katowice, Poland, Index.hu reported. The company has been working since the beginning of the Russian invasion to get out its stuck planes. Reportedly, they are still undamaged. However, the aircrafts must be scanned, and need the permission of the Ukrainian authorities.

Meanwhile, you can book some tickets for next summer to some popular destinations for an affordable price on Wizz’s website. You may find Utazómajom’s list at the bottom of THIS article.

Number of Hungarian tourists in Croatia up 27 percent

The number of Hungarian tourists visiting Croatia has gone up by 27 percent to 522,300 in the first eight months this year compared with the same period in 2021, the director of the Croatian tourism community’s representation in Hungary said on Friday.

Hungarian tourists spent 2,732,000 guest nights in the neighbouring country during the period, Ivana Herceg told a press conference in Budapest. In the record year of 2019, some 568,700 Hungarians visited Croatia to spend 2,952,000 guest nights there in the first eight months, she said. The most popular destinations were Kvarner Bay, followed by the regions of Istria, Zadar, Split and Sibenik, she said. The city of Crikvenica, the island of Vir and the city of Rovinj were also among the top destinations.

According to earlier statistics, some 644,000 Hungarians visited Croatia in the full year of 2019.

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PHOTOS: Wizz Air left around 150 Hungarian football fans in France

Fradi football fans Wizz Air France

Fradi, the reigning champion and one of the most prestigious Hungarian football clubs, played the second matchday of the Europa League group stage against AS Monaco on Thursday evening. Of course, many fans travelled there with their club, and their effort was not in vain. Fradi defeated the home team 0 to 1. But many fans could not travel home because of the Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air. Below, you may read the details.

Football fans in panic

At least one hundred Hungarian fans were stuck in Monaco, one of the world’s most expensive places after their flight was cancelled. The reason is the nationwide strike of airport employees in France. Interestingly, today even the railway workers joined the strike.

A fan talking to csakfoci.hu, a Hungarian football news website, said that his family called him during halftime telling him their flight was cancelled due to the strike. There were two kinds of supporters in the match: the “B-centre” had the radicals while other fans occupied seats in various parts of the stadium. Panic started among the radicals in the heat of the match. They feared they would not be able to get home, so they started to communicate on Facebook, helping each other with information, and travel options.

Here are some photos of the Fradi football fans in Monaco marching on the match day to the stadium:

 

Wizz Air did not provide proper help

Based on his estimate, around 100-150 fans could not fly back to Hungary that night with their Wizz Air plane.

“We came out with the Wednesday flight of Wizz Air together with many Fradi supporters. Originally, we would have travelled back on Friday, but the airline offered a ticket only for Monday, and we would have to pay for our accommodation”, he said. The situation was chaotic, everybody wanted to get home that night, but they could only book tickets for 1,000-1,400 EUR per person. Fradi fans were happy they won and tried to help those stuck in Monaco, the victim added.

Fradi football fans Wizz Air
Fradi football fans in Budapest. Photo: Instagram/GroupamaArena

He said some travelled to Genova by train and then continued their journey to Bologna to watch the home team’s Saturday Serie A match. Afterwards, they will travel to Rome, heading back to Budapest from the Italian capital.

However, most people did not calculate the chaos and did not prepare to remain in Monaco, so they are without proper accommodation. That is partly because prices in Monaco are much higher than in Hungary.

Featured image: illustration

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Wizz Air has left its Budapest-bound passengers at Rome airport

wizz air hungary

WizzAir delayed the take-off of its flight from Rome to Budapest at 19:55 on Sunday by one hour, and cancelled the flight shortly afterwards, 24.hu learned from a passenger.

The flight from Budapest Airport to Rome was due to depart at 8 PM, but it was cancelled, so passengers were not only unable to reach Hungary from Italy but also could not get to Rome from Budapest.

According to 24.hu, passengers at the Rome airport were informed of a Monday departure at 14:30, but as far as they know, no other information was given.

Wizz Air has not yet commented on the events.

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