Wizz Air

[Marko1]

Given the plethora of new routes coming from wizz I wonder if Bristol should be snapping up something new or is Bristol destined to be a one trick pony

 

[Jerry]

Given the plethora of new routes coming from wizz I wonder if Bristol should be snapping up something new or is Bristol destined to be a one trick pony

You'd have thought that they'd have added some, maybe they feel Ryanair and Easyjet are too strong? But that hasn't stopped them at Luton. Maybe they can't get what they feel is a good enough deal?

 

[Foxlimayankee]

You'd have thought that they'd have added some, maybe they feel Ryanair and Easyjet are too strong? But that hasn't stopped them at Luton. Maybe they can't get what they feel is a good enough deal?

I suspect you're right there in that BRS have also seemed very protective of EZY and may be unwilling to give them a good enough deal. Wizz have grown massively at LTN but it has the London Market available to it.
Given the size of the EZY BRS base, if Wizz wanted to come in to BRS there would potentially be some casualties as it wouldn't have the same sized market to support both on big levels. That being said, we don't necessarily know what Wizz want. Doncaster is starting out as a 1 aircraft base, so I wouldn't rule out BRS.

 

[Marko1]

The likes of riga and Vilnius is what I was thinking. There’s a gaping hole in the market there to be filled. Birmingham and Liverpool have scooped them up. I accept the sun routes would be a probable no go but central and Eastern Europe there’s plenty of scope

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Apart from Katowice Wizz ditched its three other BRS routes after 2017: Kosice, Sofia and Warsaw Chopin. Loads were not at all bad, with Kosice the worst performing. That was as much to do with Kosice as with BRS because after the BRS route was axed Wizz pulled nearly everything from Kosice and Luton is the only current route served to anywhere although Doncaster Sheffield begins in October.

If the loss of Kosice was not entirely surprising the axing of Warsaw Chopin and Sofia was, given the loads. Sofia still operates in the ski season with easyJet and Ryanair, and Enter Air operates for tour companies.

Below are the monthly Wizz load factors for the summer of 2016 from April to September. Warsaw Chopin did not begin until May and was against Ryanair's Warsaw Modlin which saw the usual Polish load factors well into the 90s% through the summer despite the new Chopin route. Incidentally, I don't think the September Katowice figure is correct. It was so out of sync with the months before and after.

Katowice 86.2, 87.0, 90.8, 93.8, 95.8, 75.9
Sofia 82.8, 84.2, 87.0, 90.3, 94.6, 86.8
Kosice 77.7, 84.7, 91.4, 92.1, 94.9, 87.0
Warsaw Chopin 87.2, 89.5, 96.0, 95.7, 87.6

On the face of things then BRS was not a disaster for Wizz when it came to filling seats.

Perhaps the deal the airport gave them did not enable the yield to sparkle. As has been suggested, maybe the airport's relationship with easyJet (especially) and Ryanair, and the stated intention of airport growth mainly through existing airline customers, gets in the way of attracting other airlines that might bring a route network. I read recently that BRS has the second highest number of easyJet routes of any UK airport (after Gatwick) and the fourth highest across the network with Geneva and Berlin being the other airports ahead of it.

Obviously that's extremely good news for the airport but also a potential danger relying disproportionately on one airline customer.

Given the choice, I'd plump for airlines such as Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines and Turkish Airlines over Wizz Air if it was a case of one or the other.

Another point is that Wizz operates from Doncaster Sheffield but not Leeds-Bradford and from Liverpool but not Manchester which suggests that its management doesn't automatically look for the busiest airport in a region. Perhaps CWL or EXT might be in the Wizz sights, or both. They have smaller markets but no easyJet and a much smaller Ryanair presence. TUI too has a smaller presence at CWL and EXT, something that Wizz might ponder in the light of its new venture into sun routes from the UK.

 

[superking]

The Wizz rotation tonight was a Airbus 321 to KTW.Would imagine it had good loading.The aircraft reg was HA-LTD

 

[Marko1]

Winter 21/22 Katowice flights now on sale three weekly

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Wizz Air booking engine showing the Katowice service resuming on 2 August this year at 2 x weekly - returning to 3 x weekly from the beginning of September.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Wizz Air to resume tomorrow evening from/to Katowice at 2 x weekly (Mon and Fri). The third weekly flight (Wed) is now shown as being put back to an early October commencement date.

 

[MrFenner]

Looks like KTW will be pulled from 5 November 2023.

Route was previously on sale right up to the end of S24.

 

[Marko1]

It’s been below the radar for a while too looking at the number of posts on this page. One of our longest serving airlines as well. I recollect they have done this before however - seem to remember a big hoo ha a year or two ago then it got re released

 

[Jerry]

So that means Bristol loses an airline?

 

[MrFenner]

It’s been below the radar for a while too looking at the number of posts on this page. One of our longest serving airlines as well. I recollect they have done this before however - seem to remember a big hoo ha a year or two ago then it got re released

I think as an airline they are quite well known for this sort of behaviour, so I would almost guarantee they will be back at some point in the future…

So that means Bristol loses an airline?

Indeed - it was a single route

 

[Jerry]

I think as an airline they are quite well known for this sort of behaviour, so I would almost guarantee they will be back at some point in the future…

Indeed - it was a single route

They used to have a significant network at Bristol if I remember correctly. They do seem to be in chop and change mode.

 

[BRSregular]

I really hoped Wizz would slowly expand from BRS. They have a lot of European bases that could fly here. They serve a lot of cities that wouldn’t even compete with EasyJet or Ryanair but as someone else said, they chop and change their routes frequently. Not an airline I could trust to fly me, even after I had bought a seat.

 

[Aviador]

Is it a temporary loss though as the airline has stated it is having to reduced services across the business through the winter due engine checks of their A321 aircraft?