Wizz Air prepares for major EX-YU expansion
Wizz Air plans to introduce 24 new routes from former Yugoslav markets in the coming months despite the airline’s expectations that gradual traffic recovery will occur only in late summer. Despite the new routes, Wizz Air has continued to delay the resumption of a number of services from the region and has reduced frequencies on existing flights as strict travel restrictions continue to be enforced. By late June, the budget airline will open a new base in Sarajevo with the introduction of nine new routes. Furthermore, it will also commence four new services from Belgrade, with one already having been launched, as well six from Split and five from Banja Luka.
The airline is in talks with other airports in the region over potential new flights. Wizz Air forecasts travel demand to pick up across Europe following “a period of good progress of national vaccination plans”. Its CEO, Jozsef Varadi, remains confident the airline will emerge as a long-term winner from the pandemic as others retreat. “Our agility and relentless focus on costs and cash are significant competitive advantages”, Mr Varadi said. However, he noted that while he’s confident there will ultimately be a rebound given pent-up demand, “whether this will happen over the summer or the winter or next spring, we don’t know”.
Wizz Air is launching over 120 new routes this summer across its network. “Our network expansion and the investments we have made in our fleet over the past twelve months ensures we are well placed for a return to normal operations and we are convinced we are now even better positioned to be a structural winner in the European aviation sector”, the CEO noted. He added, “We still intend on being aggressive in targeting market share where opportunities arise and plan to stick with all of our bases. There are no plans to reduce deliveries from Airbus, with 27 new A320-series narrow-bodies due in the next twelve months, though there’s flexibility to return existing jets to lessors or renegotiate terms as contracts expire. Wizz’s 1.6 billion euros of liquidity should last for the approaching three years at current levels of cash burn”, Mr Varadi concluded.
| Route | Launch date |
|---|---|
| Belgrade - Sandefjord | 16.05.2021 |
| Belgrade - Abu Dhabi | 19.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - Memmingen | 20.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - Copenhagen | 20.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - Dortmund | 20.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - Charleroi | 21.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - London Luton | 21.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - Basel | 21.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - Beauvais | 22.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - Eindhoven | 23.05.2021 |
| Sarajevo - Gothenburg | 23.05.2021 |
| Banja Luka - Dortmund | 03.06.2021 |
| Split - Oslo | 06.06.2021 |
| Banja Luka - Basel | 06.06.2021 |
| Banja Luka - Stockholm Skavsta | 06.06.2021 |
| Banja Luka - Eindhoven | 07.06.2021 |
| Banja Luka - Malmo | 07.06.2021 |
| Split - Poznan | 11.06.2021 |
| Split - Krakow | 11.06.2021 |
| Belgrade - Heraklion | 12.06.2021 |
| Belgrade - Santorini | 13.06.2021 |
| Split - Lublin | 13.06.2021 |
| Split - Gdansk | 17.06.2021 |
| Split - Wroclaw | 20.06.2021 |
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