Wizz Air cuts exotic routes as African airline launches direct flights from Budapest to the “White City”
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Wizz Air’s management has recently opted for a strategic shift, scaling back services to more exotic destinations in the Middle East and Central Asia in favour of a stronger focus on Eastern Europe. In light of this, the latest round of flight cancellations is not unexpected. However, other carriers appear to see potential in Budapest—and Hungarian passengers—for more far-flung destinations.
Wizz Air to cancel several route
Wizz Air is overhauling its network in line with its updated strategy. We previously reported that the airline is opening a new base not far from Budapest, announcing more than a dozen new routes and increasing airport traffic by 50%. At the same time, however, the airline is closing routes and streamlining operations as it partially withdraws from the Middle East and Africa.
Although the Hungarian low-cost carrier has not officially announced the route closures, according to a Budflyer post, the following Wizz Air flights will be discontinued next spring:
- Abu Dhabi: final departure on 28 March 2026
- Cairo: final flight on 25 March
- Gran Canaria: last flight with the Hungarian carrier on 28 March
Commenters are particularly disappointed by the loss of the Cairo route and hope that direct flights to the Egyptian capital may return in the next winter schedule.
- Budget airline showdown: Following Wizz Air, Ryanair has announced the same routes
New direct service from Budapest to the ‘White City’
According to Utazómajom, Algeria’s national airline, Air Algérie, will launch direct flights between Budapest and Algiers—the North African capital dubbed the “White City”—starting on 29 October 2025. The route will be operated by the national carrier, although its future is currently only confirmed through to spring 2026. At present, the last bookable date is 25 March, suggesting it may not continue into the summer season..
Thanks to the direct service, travel time between the two capitals will be cut to about three hours. According to the current schedule, flights will operate twice weekly as follows:
- Wednesdays: departure from Budapest (BUD) at 16:10, arrival in Algiers (ALG) at 19:10.
- Saturdays: departure from Algiers (ALG) at 10:30, arrival in Budapest (BUD) at 13:15.
Utazómajom notes that the new service will appeal to both tourists and business travellers and forms part of Air Algérie’s broader European expansion. Tickets are already available on the airline’s website.
I almost hate to point this out, since the English Grammer principle is taught in high schools in Hungary. The headline “WizzAir cancels several route” should be “several routes”. THe grammar principle is simple – if it is a countable noun, the plural takes the “s”. It doesn’t matter if there is a specific number, i.e. fiver routes, or an indefinte number, i.e “few, several, any” etc.