Airlines

WIZZ Air - airline information

General information

WIZZ Air is Central Europe's leading low cost carrier.

Easily distinguishable pink-purple Airbus 320s can be seen at airports across Europe.

The company was created as a Hungarian-Polish joint-venture, with mostly Hungarian capital and staff.

The company is headquartered in Vecsés, Hungary and is lead by József Váradi, who formerly worked for MALÉV - Hungarian Airlines.

WIZZ Air's base is at Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport, which is its main hub. The second hub is at Katowice, Poland. Other 3 newer hubs are at Warsaw and Gdańsk (Poland) and Sofia, the Bulgarian capital.

The airline serves major Western European cities and is aiming strongly at new markets in Eastern Europe.

WIZZ Air offers additional travel services, such as hotel reservations and car rentals.

Fact sheet

Destinations

WIZZ Air flies to 36 places across Europe.

Most destinations are located in Northwestern Europe, in countries like the UK, Germany, the Benelux countries. In Hungary, only Budapest is served, while Poland has multiple major destinations on WIZZ Air's list, including the 3 hubs.

Few routes are operated towards France and the Iberian Peninsula.

WIZZ Air grows at higher rates than other Central European carriers and it is expected that the company will increase its destinations. We could speculate that they will extend further into Spain and especially the Eastern European market.

Fleet

WIZZ Air runs exclusively Airbus A320s. 9 of these machines airplanes are currently in service, but further orders will increase their numbers to above 50. The company propose to purchase new aircraft (possibly of the same type) within the next 3-5 years.

In summer 2007, according to plans, the company should already have a fleet of 13 "birds".

The airline's planes are maintained by Lufthansa Technik and SAS Technical Services.

In-flight comfort is much better than on most low fare carriers. For example, travelers get to sit on leather seats.

Activity & market position

WIZZ Air is exploiting the growth of the Central European air travel market. Especially Budapest are Warsaw are expected to earn more importance in the air travel market, as they have central positions in Europe and are adequate places for hubs. The operational costs on these airports is lower than in Western Europe.

WIZZ Air transported more than 2 million people in 2006, which makes it highly important to Budapest's international airport.

The carrier is the currently the leader low fare carrier in Central Europe and, is more powerful than any Eastern European low cost airline.

WIZZ Air was only established in spring 2004 and from then till autumn 2006 it already had already transported 2,5 million passengers.

Current activity and perspectives for the future

Fleet growth and extension into new markets  

WIZZ Air is seeking fresh markets, where there is little competition from giant low fare carriers (such as EasyJet and Ryanair), but there is potential for growth.

Eastern Europe, especially former Soviet republics are high on possible new destinations lists.

As the fleet grows, we will see more destinations where the company will fly.

 Last modified/updated: May 23, 2007