The European low-cost carrier Wizz Air has announced it will cancel all its flights to and from Russia during the summer due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the current geopolitical instability in the region. Let’s investigate further.
Not flying to Russia
On April 1, Wizz Air, one of the largest low-cost carriers in Europe, announced it will keep halted all flights to Russia during the International Air Transport Association (IATA) summer season.
On social media, Wizz Air stated,
“Wizz Air is constantly monitoring the ongoing situation, therefore all flights to/from Russia will be canceled for the full summer season schedule up until 30 October. The flights are being removed from the booking system. Any further changes will be announced in due course.”
The airline first suspended all its flights to and from Russia on February 27 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Wizz Air has also suspended all flights to and from Ukraine until the end of June, at least.
In January 2022, Wizz Air operated nearly 1,300 flights to Russia and Ukraine, making over 253,000 seats available in these markets. The airline’s most important routes were Budapest (BUD) to Moscow Vnukovo (VKO) with one daily flight and Warsaw (WAW) to Kyiv (IEV). Wizz Air mainly employed its Airbus A321neo fleet on these routes.
Who’s flying between Europe and Russia currently?
Due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has banned Russian airlines and aircraft from its airspace, among many other economic sanctions aimed to cripple the Kremlin’s economy.
In January 2022, the connectivity between Russia and the European Union had over 4,200 monthly flights and over 700,000 seats available from over 20 airlines.
According to data provided by Cirium, there will be 285 scheduled commercial flights between Russia and the European Union, with 55,251 seats available in April. Compared to January, that’s a decrease of 93.3% and 92.2%, respectively.
Turkish Airlines remains the top player connecting Russia and Europe through the 822 scheduled flights from Turkey, according to Cirium. This month, Air Serbia is only planning 86 flights from Serbia to Russia. The airline became a loophole for Russians to enter Europe and faced bomb threats and political pressure.
Wizz Air is offering over 20,000 flights in April 2022. Photo: Getty Images.
Wizz Air’s newest routes
The Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air has been opening several new routes in the last few months.
On March 31, the airline announced on social media the launch of three new routes from Romania’s Cluj-Napoca (CLJ) to Turin and Naples in Italy and Corfu in Greece. The low-cost operator will also launch new routes from Bucharest (OTP) to Rimini, Italy, and Preveza-Aktion, Germany.
Wizz Air announced new routes from Albania, connecting Tirana (TIA) to Lyon (France), Nuremberg (Germany), and Warsaw (Poland).
Overall, Wizz Air is looking to offer a whopping 810 routes during the summer, connecting destinations like Budapest to Akaba in Jordan or Cardiff to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.
In April, Wizz Air will offer over 20,000 flights and over 4 million seats on its routes. Compared to 2019 levels, that’s a 19.8% and 26.6% increase, respectively.
What do you think about Wizz Air’s latest announcement? Let us know in the comments below.
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