Wizz Air

[Ray Finkle]

New route to Bucharest which will be daily from mid June.

It looks to be the evening Luton flight that has been moved across.

 

[Ray Finkle]

New route to Krakow, daily from Feb 23rd.

Wizz going for it big in Poland.

WIZZ – Dream more. Live more. Be more.

Fly with Europe's greenest ultra-low cost airline. Friendly service, low fares and lots of destinations.

wizzair.com

 

[Silvercity]

Wizz Air will establish a second UK base at Gatwick. Taking advantage of Virgin vacating and survival issues with Norwegian.

 

[Coathanger16]

Taking advantage of Virgin vacating

Not exactly sure how that works. Virgin are keeping their slots at Gatwick, so unless Wizz is going to start flights to the Caribbean...?

 

[Jerry]

Maybe a deal with Norwegian to buy their slots?

 

[Silvercity]

They are also getting A321LR. BA is also going so, slots shouldnt be an issue id imagine.

 

[Seasider]

As far as I am aware, BA haven't confirmed that they are leaving Gatwick. The threat to leave could be a bargaining ploy.

 

[Silvercity]

Well they appear serious about it.

Wizz, Europe’s third-biggest discounter, is keen to expand its U.K. business beyond a base at Luton, north of London, if it can get hold of the operating slots, Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said Wednesday in a phone interview. He said he’d like to turn Gatwick, located south of the capital city, into its second British hub.

The coronavirus crisis, while devastating to travel worldwide, is still providing opportunities for the handful of airlines that have the means and boldness to take risks. Wizz, which has signaled it will press its growth plans during the slump, has risen quickly in Eastern Europe but lags far behind Ryanair Holdings Plc and EasyJet Plc in the U.K. and much of western Europe.

An opening has emerged at Gatwick, where Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. said this week it will pull out and focus on London Heathrow to help ride out the Covid-19 pandemic. British Airways is reportedly looking to do the same, and with Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, Gatwick’s No. 3 tenant, retrenching to survive the winter, the once full airport could soon have space for new entrants.

“We’ve been looking at Gatwick for a long time and we absolutely have an ambition to build a base there,” Varadi said.

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Varadi said any expansion at Gatwick is contingent on being able to secure ownership of operating slots, as he wants to avoid taking over capacity temporarily only to hand it back later.

“We wouldn’t want to lease slots,” Varadi said. “You don’t make an investment in building up a business and the other guy then changes his mind.”

Doubling in Size?
Budapest-based Wizz currently has only a handful of flights into Gatwick, whereas it bases 10 planes at Luton with a further 25 flying in from locations in mainland Europe. Since Gatwick is a bigger airport with a more developed infrastructure, an operation there could be at least that size, the CEO said.

Gatwick’s higher charges might be an obstacle to expansion for a carrier that boasts Europe’s lowest cost base, though those might come down as other airlines depart.

Varadi said he’s also unsure that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will actually surrender takeoff and landing positions. Virgin CEO Shai Weiss said Tuesday the intention is to lease out the slots until the market revives and a return to Gatwick becomes viable.

Wizz sought to establish itself as a force at Gatwick last year, when it was a contender for slots from failed Thomas Cook Group Plc. Those were bought by EasyJet, Gatwick’s biggest operator, while positions vacated by Monarch Airlines in 2017 went to British Airways owner IAG SA after Wizz had bid.

Business at Gatwick was booming before the coronavirus crisis crushed demand and prompted groundings of entire airline fleets. The airport, traditionally a leisure hub, had aspired to snag some of Heathrow’s full-service passengers, with French owner Vinci SA seeking to convert an emergency runway for regular use.

Wizz said this week that it will launch five new routes from Luton next month in anticipation of the U.K. lockdown being eased. The services to Greece and Portugal could be operated immediately under current conditions should Wizz have wished, according to Varadi, who said he sees no obstacle to the flights.

Passengers and crew will be required to wear face masks and the latter gloves, with onboard purchases made via contactless card, no magazines on offer, and only a limited food service. Cabins will undergo an antiviral fogging process.

While Wizz said it will enforce physical distancing measures, passengers will most likely be kept apart because of low initial demand and there are no plans to limit occupancy levels or block off middle-row seats, Varadi said.

The CEO reaffirmed that Wizz plans to take delivery of the hundreds of jetliners it has on order from Airbus SE, including 22 in the next 14 months, even as many other carriers shrink their operations. He said there are regular “business-like” discussions with the planemaker.

( Exert from Bloombergs)

 

[Rob c DSA]

They want to get in to Gatwick for sure who knows how easy or hard it will be to achieve it. Will easyJet put up a fight if any slots become available and go for them themselves. Wizz do seem happy to take easyJet on they have really taken the fight to them at Luton would they find it so easy at Gatwick where easyJet may think we have a huge operation already we will make it even bigger even at the expense of pulling some flights from Luton or Stansted it could be a very interesting how this ends up playing out.

 

[Silvercity]

They want to get in to Gatwick for sure who knows how easy or hard it will be to achieve it. Will easyJet put up a fight if any slots become available and go for them themselves. Wizz do seem happy to take easyJet on they have really taken the fight to them at Luton would they find it so easy at Gatwick where easyJet may think we have a huge operation already we will make it even bigger even at the expense of pulling some flights from Luton or Stansted it could be a very interesting how this ends up playing out.

They are at Southend too, really expanding in the SE

 

[Rob c DSA]

They are at Southend too, really expanding in the SE

Southend is probably part of the Wizz plan to cover all corners of London. I'd think if Gatwick comes a reality other area's of the country could benefit and slowly but surely they'd plot a path similar to what Jet 2 have.

 

[Silvercity]

Wizz Air is now basing an aircraft at LGW. New routes to ACE , NAP , MLA and ATH as of 22 OCT 2020

 

[Silvercity]

4 x weekly to Athens and Naples 3 x weekly to Lanzarote and Malta


( as per Twitter )

 

[Rob c DSA]

The start of what could become a very big base I expect, all depends on them getting the slots patience might have to be the key however I expect as soon as a slot becomes available at Gatwick now Wizz will be all over it.

I worry for easyJet here pulling out of Stansted in a big way Wizz getting in at Gatwick and giving them a hard time at Luton expect the same at Liverpool even Bristol longer term.

It seems like there are only a few days between the announcement of a new base or routes at present when will it stop DSA last week they've also added extra flights at Riga and Gatwick now.

Four a week to Athens seems quite high but it seems the skies the limit for them at present whilst easyJet and Ryanair are shrinking capacity.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The start of what could become a very big base I expect, all depends on them getting the slots patience might have to be the key however I expect as soon as a slot becomes available at Gatwick now Wizz will be all over it.

I worry for easyJet here pulling out of Stansted in a big way Wizz getting in at Gatwick and giving them a hard time at Luton expect the same at Liverpool even Bristol longer term.

It seems like there are only a few days between the announcement of a new base or routes at present when will it stop DSA last week they've also added extra flights at Riga and Gatwick now.

Four a week to Athens seems quite high but it seems the skies the limit for them at present whilst easyJet and Ryanair are shrinking capacity.

Wizz tried Bristol - didn't seem to work for them despite high loads on three of the four routes they operated there with one, Warsaw, in competition with Ryanair although to different airports serving Poland's capital. The fourth, Kosice (Slovakia), was ok but only saw 90% loads each month in the main part of the summer.

Wizz only operates from Bristol to Katowice now so they might not be looking at BRS again for further expansion in a hurry. easyJet is very big at BRS. Pre-pandemic there were 74 routes (18 based aircraft), second only to Gatwick in the UK, and fourth in the entire easyJet network with just Berlin and Geneva having more routes (as well as Gatwick).

Gatwick is probably large enough in terms of catchment to take on big Wizz-easyJet competition, provided the former can find the slots. Might be more of a struggle for Wizz to tackle easyJet at BRS with a smaller non-London catchment. Both airlines could lose out and, anyway, Ryanair also has over 30 routes from BRS, many to central and eastern Europe, and TUI was due to base seven aircraft this summer which would be strong competition for Wizz's summer sun aspirations.

BRS's policy is to grow using mainly existing airline customers so it might not be inclined to offer Wizz good terms, albeit who knows how the post-pandemic recovery will play out in the aviation world?

If Wizz wants another look at the south-western corner of Britain it might have to look at CWL and/or EXT anyway if BRS loses its planning application appeal and is stuck at its current 10 mppa planning limit, a figure it was on course to reach next year had the pandemic not intervened.

 

[Rob c DSA]

Wizz tried Bristol - didn't seem to work for them despite high loads on three of the four routes they operated there with one, Warsaw, in competition with Ryanair although to different airports serving Poland's capital. The fourth, Kosice (Slovakia), was ok but only saw 90% loads each month in the main part of the summer.

Wizz only operates from Bristol to Katowice now so they might not be looking at BRS again for further expansion in a hurry. easyJet is very big at BRS. Pre-pandemic there were 74 routes (18 based aircraft), second only to Gatwick in the UK, and fourth in the entire easyJet network with just Berlin and Geneva having more routes (as well as Gatwick).

Gatwick is probably large enough in terms of catchment to take on big Wizz-easyJet competition, provided the former can find the slots. Might be more of a struggle for Wizz to tackle easyJet at BRS with a smaller non-London catchment. Both airlines could lose out and, anyway, Ryanair also has over 30 routes from BRS, many to central and eastern Europe, and TUI was due to base seven aircraft this summer which would be strong competition for Wizz's summer sun aspirations.

BRS's policy is to grow using mainly existing airline customers so it might not be inclined to offer Wizz good terms, albeit who knows how the post-pandemic recovery will play out in the aviation world?

If Wizz wants another look at the south-western corner of Britain it might have to look at CWL and/or EXT anyway if BRS loses its planning application appeal and is stuck at its current 10 mppa planning limit, a figure it was on course to reach next year had the pandemic not intervened.

Wizz have always been very loyal to the airport's they fly in to I don't see them going elsewhere in the South West they will want a number of bases here located sensibly around the UK. I imagine they will want a base in the South West at some point along with Liverpool and Birmingham. Then add both Scotland and Northern Ireland to the new DSA and Gatwick bases along with Luton.

With the announcement of easyJet closing the Newcastle and Southend bases it may arouse some interest in a base at either or both those airports especially Newcastle. I imagine some bases will start and stay small whilst others grow over time.

Bristol may end up with a small base I am shocked at you saying it's down to one route at present I was under the impression they were still operating numerous routes I can't see them long term wanting to just operate that sole remaining route I'd expect it to grow again it doesn't make much sense long term to operate just one route especially an airline the size of Wizz.

 

[Silvercity]

The start of what could become a very big base I expect, all depends on them getting the slots patience might have to be the key however I expect as soon as a slot becomes available at Gatwick now Wizz will be all over it.

I worry for easyJet here pulling out of Stansted in a big way Wizz getting in at Gatwick and giving them a hard time at Luton expect the same at Liverpool even Bristol longer term.

It seems like there are only a few days between the announcement of a new base or routes at present when will it stop DSA last week they've also added extra flights at Riga and Gatwick now.

Four a week to Athens seems quite high but it seems the skies the limit for them at present whilst easyJet and Ryanair are shrinking capacity.

I have fingers crossed that Liverpool will be their next announcement base wise. 🙂

 

[Rob c DSA]

I have fingers crossed that Liverpool will be their next announcement base wise. 🙂

Certainty for me

 

[Silvercity]

Certainty for me

There are plenty of holes they could fill that EZY/FR have left.

 

[IanFarquharson]

I have fingers crossed that Liverpool will be their next announcement base wise. 🙂

BHX surely 🙂