By Arturo Higueras
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi To Takes Off in January
Wizz Air has been one of the low-cost airlines that have grown most during the last year and have managed to most effectively survive the COVID-19 crisis. Back in December 2019, the Hungarian carrier announced the launch of an Abu Dhabi base by a subsidiary company. Originally the launch was scheduled for 2020, but the data was periodically pushed back.
On January 15, the low-cost carrier will connect for the first time Abu Dhabi International Airport with Athens Eleftherios Venizelos Airport. This will be the first official flight of this new carrier operated by their brand-new Airbus A321neo. Moreover, the Hungarian company has also announced the second route they will be inaugurated on Feb. 4, flying to Thessaloniki-Makedonia Airport, Greece.
The inauguration of the new Wizz Air subsidiary has been delayed due to the pandemic and different border restrictions. Nevertheless, the Abu Dhabi authorities have designed a “green list” of countries to which travel is safe. Greece is included on that list, so there will be no problems with those new flights. Passengers coming from those “green countries” will not need to quarantine but they will have to do a COVID-19 test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
The intention of the carrier was to launch five routes from Abu Dhabi to Europe during summer 2020. Wizz wanted to fly to Bucharest, Romania; Budapest, Hungary; Katowice, Poland; Sofia, Bulgaria and Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The intention was to connect the new Middle East hub with the already existing European bases. Later on, in fall 2020, the carrier wanted to fly to other six destinations: Kutaisi, Georgia; Odesa, Ukraine; Alexandria, Egypt; Athens, Greece; Larnaca, Cyprus and Yerevan, Armenia. However, none of these operations could be completed due to the pandemic crisis.
The future intention of the airline is to connect Abu Dhabi with Western Europe, India, other Middle East airports and Africa. Wizz will be operating these new connections with its new Airbus A321neo. The carrier currently has a fleet of 120 Airbus A320 with nearly 270 aircraft pending, with a majority of A320 and A321neo. Kees van Schaick, Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, confirmed the intention to keep developing its network: “Our network from Abu Dhabi will expand rapidly as destinations on our planned network are added to the ‘green countries’ list. We are fully prepared. We have the aircraft, we have the crew, we have the partners, and we are ready to fly.”
With more than 700 routes, the Hungarian low-cost carrier has been quickly adapting its strategy to the new circumstances. During the pandemic, the airline has been able to open 13 new bases and 260 new routes including such important cities as Milan, Italy; Larnaca, Cyprus; Dortmund, Germany; London, United Kingdom; Tirana, Albania and Oslo, Norway. Moreover, the carrier has adapted most of its routes throughout the year and canceled those more affected by border restrictions.
Arturo joined AirlineGeeks in 2020 as a writer. He is a Spanish Aerospace Engineer who recently completed his undergraduate studies at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He has always been passionate about aviation and, in addition to his engineering knowledge, he is now completing a Master’s Degree in Air Transport Management at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom. Being passionate about journalism, he has been part of several online magazine projects, he will now be covering aviation news from Europe.
