Wizz Air prepares for major EX-YU expansion

Wizz to launch thirteen new routes and eyes flights close to Skopje and Pristina

Wizz Air will introduce thirteen new routes in the former Yugoslavia this summer from four different cities and open its third base in the region. The major expansion begins in less than a month as the airline positions itself as the leading low cost carrier in the former Yugoslavia. This summer, Wizz Air will base its third aircraft in Skopje and introduce five new routes from the Macedonian capital. In addition, the airline will inaugurate seasonal services from the country’s second international airport - Ohrid. All of the new routes will be subsidised by the Macedonian government, which has drawn criticism from nearby Pristina Airport. It has accused Skopje of distorting competition, but has also expressed hope to attract the no frills carrier itself.

However, Albanian media have reported that Wizz Air has voiced interest to fly to Kukes Airport, in the country’s north-east, close to the Macedonian border, as well as Pristina. Potential flights could be launched following the annulment of an exclusivity contract between the Albanian government and the German part-owners of Tirana Airport, which currently allows for commercial flights to operate only into the country’s capital. The Albanian Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Edmond Haxhinasto, says talks with Tirana Airport are nearing completion and is confident the monopoly will be dispersed. The airport in Kukes, named after the late ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was opened in 2010. Its close proximity to both Pristina and Skopje could alter Wizz Air’s plans in the region. Currently, Wizz Air attracts a significant number of travellers from Kosovo and northern Albania on its flights from Skopje.


Following a year of downsizing, Wizz Air will be expanding its presence in Serbia with the introduction of flights from Niš, in the country’s south-east. The airline will operate services from Malmo and Basel, becoming Niš Airport’s only scheduled customer. City officials have previously said the airline is considering introducing flights from Memmingen towards the end of the year or in early 2016. Local authorities have signed a three-year commercial contract with the low cost airline. Coupled with its Belgrade base, Wizz Air will offer a total of twelve destinations to seven countries from Serbia starting next month. The airline has emphasised that its presence in the country’s south-east will not impact on its operations in Belgrade. It said, “This does not mean we are growing without Belgrade - we are not interested in moving”.


Finally, Tuzla Airport is preparing to become Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first low cost base. Close to 200.000 passengers are expected to pass through the doors of the once deserted airport during 2015. Wizz Air will base an Airbus A320 aircraft in Tuzla from late June. It will launch new flights to Frankfurt Hahn, Sandefjord, Memmingen and Stockholm Skavsta. With these new services, the budget airline will offer a total of nine routes to five countries from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s third largest city. It already maintains flights to Tuzla from Malmo, Basel, Dortmund, Gothenburg and Eindhoven. “During 2015, Tuzla Airport will meet all technical and other contractual obligations it has with Wizz Air, with the aim of becoming the airline’s regional hub”, Tuzla Airport’s Managing Director, Rifet Karasalihović, said recently.

As of next month, Wizz Air will have three bases in the former Yugoslavia – Skopje, Belgrade and Tuzla – and will maintain flights to Ljubljana, Niš, Ohrid and Split as well.

RouteLaunch date
London Luton - Ohrid10.06.2015
Tuzla - Frankfurt Hahn24.06.2015
Tuzla - Sandefjord24.06.2015
Malmo - Niš25.06.2015
Tuzla - Memmingen26.06.2015
Tuzla - Stockholm Skavsta26.06.2015
Skopje - Friedrischshafen29.06.2015
Skopje - Sandefjord29.06.2015
Basel - Niš29.06.2015
Skopje - Barcelona30.06.2015
Skopje - Lubeck 01.07.2015
Skopje - Nuremberg 01.07.2015
Basel - Ohrid 01.07.2015

Wizz Air's new route launches during summer 2015

Comments

  1. I wonder how serious Wizz truly is about flying to Kukes.

    I took a quick peek at the airport on Google maps. The runway markings are similar to those found on non-precision approaches in USA. I can't seem to locate a PAPI or any other kind of glideslope indicator. Overall, I think it would be quite hard to operate there. Perhaps Wizz is only starting these rumors so that TIA will give them a good deal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:16

      Izvolte :-)

      http://photos.wikimapia.org/p/00/01/16/19/58_big.jpg

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Kuk%C3%ABs_Airport.jpg

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Airport_Kuk%C3%ABs_Eurocopter.jpg/1280px-Airport_Kuk%C3%ABs_Eurocopter.jpg

      Ne izgleda mi loše, samo nigde ne mogu da nadjem širinu piste izgleda kao da je 30m široka (ima 8 piano keys), a koliko znam A320 ne sleće bez min 45m. Dužina je 1800 što bi trebalo da bude OK, a koliko vidim pista ima osvetljenje ali ne i ne i PAPI, a nema ni prilaznih procedura. Sve u svemu interesantan aerodroma do danas nisam imao pojma da postoji, znam da Albanija ima dosta napuštenih vojnih aerodroma, čini mi se da i u Skadru postoji aerodrom.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:00

      Velicina piste u Kukës-u je 1,800 x 45m.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:13

      I highly doubt they could operate an A320 there.
      Regarding the links to above mentioned pictures, the mountain on appr to 19 looks fairly close though could be distorted. Rwy width I guess is only 30m not 45m looks very narrow.. Also check out the close hills not visible at all in fog or very cloudy conditions, no way ops possible without at least ILS Cat II or better there in off-season. Additionally, such short rwy leaves no room for mistakes.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:19

    I am particularly happy about the Nis flights. If anyone can turn the airport then it's Wizz Air. I can imagine how annoyed Air Serbia must be now.

    Can anyone predict how many passengers they can handle each year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      well, depends on LF. if you take 80% LF, by the end of the year there'll be approx. 35.000 pax and approx. 70.000 for 2016 (if they keep only MLH and MMX)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:57

      That means from Wizzair Nis airport will make 315 thousand EUR revenue for 2015 and 2016 combined.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:11

      315.000 euros DIVIDED BY 2 ( the airlines pay 3 euros per departing passenger ).

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:35

      Thank you for correction. Even that money should be enough to pay for all the infrastructure and navigation upgrades at Nis airport, right?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:52

      Of course. That is not enough for two years salary, and not even near to other costs. Investments? You are joking, right?

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:56

    Close to 200 000 passengers are expected in Tuzla in 2015? That is actually not true, it will overpass 200 000 for sure, it will be closer to 250 000.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:06

    Love them or hate them, Wizz Air has really i creased traffic in the eregion. With exception to Croatia low cost travel was a completely foreign concept in ex-Yu just a few years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:44

      I agree.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:23

      @AnonymousMay 26, 2015 at 10:06 AM

      Thankfully, Wizz no longer flies to Zagreb and only seasonally to Split and few other places in Croatia.

      Worst airline ever, only Ryan air beats them on poor service quality. However, it is nice to see them flying to Macedonia and other places which time forgot, connecting these parts of the world is a vast improvements of what was there before.

      Hopefully Sarajevo can also benefit from bit of Wizz,

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:37

      "and other places which time forgot". Get off your high horse. I assume Hungary, the UK and other countries are also places time forgot. What a disgusting comment.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:07

      AnonymousMay 26, 2015 at 2:23 PM

      Oh really? Spare us your nationalist banter. I rather live in a place that "time forgot", than in a state whose population suffers from an extreme case of unjustified superiority complexes of being something that they are not an existing somewhere where they don't. A mental make-believe world, fueled by stories of self-exclusivity.

      Remember to take your medicine tomorrow morning. Iste si ti gore list.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:54

      AnonymousMay 26, 2015 at 2:23 PM

      I´d love to see your face when the time-forgotten Skopje Airport surpasses Zagreb Airport in the near future :))

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10:08

    I'm a bit disappointed they are not expanding at Ljubljana. Last year they said how they would like to fly from LJU to Scandinavia and northern Germany but no new routes since they started flying from Slovenia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:50

      Probably because Fraport has increased handling fees. Atleast that is what Adria has said, when they decided to go to Maribor airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:28

      I also do not really understand why they are not considering Maribor. It is new well organized, has huge amount of potencial passengers and has much lower fees...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:59

      Agree.
      Wizz could do well in MBX as they refuse to serve ZAG+GRZ and dont expand from LJU.
      MBX could also serve North HR, almost whole SVN and large chunks of southern AT

      Delete
  6. Anonymous11:49

    Congratulations Wizz Air! Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. SKP will boom again , OHD too, i hope that the routes to Ohrid will fill the capacity so that some airlines start thinking about year-long flights.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:42

    A bit much to name an airport in Albania after a Sheikh. And how shortsighted do you have to be to sign an exclusivity contract with a single airport in your country o.O

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:44

      I assume the UAE gave money to build the airport in Kukes. As for the other statement, I agree. It's complete nonsense to do something like that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:52

      Shortsighted? Well, I'd simply call it corrupt (most likely).

      On the other hand, its kinda risky to fund building a new airport in a country where such regulation is prevalent.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous12:51

    That's a big expansion in just one year. Since they have so many aircraft on order I assume they will keep expanding in the region. It would be fantastic if they came to Banja Luka. The airport is in need of new flights and with rumors that Air Serbia will suspend its service it really leaves the airport unserved again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:57

      Pa niko nije lud da dovodi pod onim uslovima W6 u BNX.
      ASL nece napustiti BNX u to budite sigurni .
      INN-NS

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:04

      Naravno da niko nije lud jer bi u tom slucaju celinici aerodroma Republiek Srpske imali manje para da strpaju u svoj dzep ili u onaj divan nepostojeci aerodrom u Trebinju za koji su osnovali cak i javno preduzece.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:42

      Molim G Admina da izbrise komentar @ 1.04 PM
      Posto vredja postene ljude bez osnovanih dokaza da kradu.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:52

      Vidi ga kako se uvredio... A kada si ti bez trunke dokaza optuživao ljude na ovom blogu da primaju mito od strane države, šta ćemo sa tim? To si ponovio jedno 17 puta u svojim komentarima a sad glumiš drvenog advokata političarima. Ako G Admin ikada krene da briše neke komentare sistematski tvoji će biti prvi na spisku, pa iza njih jedno 200 praznih mesta, pa onda možda bude još kandidata.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:31

      In 2014 ASL transported less 20.000 passengers to and from Banja Luka with miserable average of 29 passenger per flight. Then they reduced the number of frequencies to three during winter and to five during summer season, but the average increased insignificantly. And Tuzla airport will handle some 200.000 passenger in 2015. One can conclude anything.....

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:27

      ...it is time for Air Serbia to start flying Belgrade - Banja Luka - Switzerland (and Germany, Sweden etc)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:16

      Yeah, Banja Luka to Vienna - oh wait Wizz is not serving any of these - shame all these airports are all soooo expensive.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous12:56

    Tako bi i ja mogoa i ja da vodim Aviokompaniju i ako ustvari nemam nesto puno pojma.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:02

      O cemu ti pricas? Wizz Air je 5 puta veca od Air Srbije, cisto da znas, a profit im je iznosio 89 mil EUR prosle godine.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:09

      Pa da znas i ja bih mogao da vodim aviokompaniju kada bi mi vlada Republike Srbije placala sve troskove, namiravala dugove, otpisivala dugovanja, placala socijalni program za zaposlone kao sto se radi u ASL, a bogati partner iz UAE pokrivao troskove po evropskim aerodromima i poklanjao avione.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:44

      Vi znate sta placa vlada R Srpske ahahahahhahah :)
      INN-NS

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:56

      Govorim of vladi Republike Srbije, a ne Srpske, i da, znam sta placa jer pise u ugovorju koji je potpisan sa Etihadom i za razliku od tebe zivim u Srbiji.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:01

      Pa kakve veze ima gde zivim , pa normalno da ce u pocetku da pomogne novom biznisu ali sad ASL sam sebe izdrzava.
      A to sto W6 radi je nesto sasvim drugo i ne moze da se uporedi sa ovim.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21:41

      INN-NS what is your view on the future of aviation in Serbia?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:53

      Jako dobar ako se ostvari sve sto je planirano .
      Samo jos kad bi uspeli nekako da pokrenemo KVO to bi bilo jako dobro makar kargo samo.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:20

      Da li su se pare godinama krale kroz gorivo na aerodromu Banjaluka. Gorivo je imalo cijenu od 1,9EUR po litru a dovozila ga je privatna firma. Zbog izbora u oktobru 2014, ovo sa gorivom im je izmaklo jer su od straha od nove vlasti spustili cijenu goriva na prihvatljivu i našli drugog dobavljača. Da li su time zameli tragove.

      Delete
  11. Purger13:23

    just to compare:

    Wizzair 45 routes from exYu
    LJU 2
    TZL 9
    SPU 1
    BEG 10
    INI 2
    SKP 19
    OHD 2

    Germanwings 34 routes:
    DBV 6
    SPU 6
    RJK 5
    ZAD 5
    ZAG 4
    PRN 7
    BEG 1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:27

      Yes but most Germanwings flights are seasonal. The one from BEG will fly for only a month. I think the only seasonal flights by Wizz Air will be from/to Ohrid.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:38

      You forgot German Wings routes from SJJ

      Delete
    3. Purger21:01

      I didn't want to say that Germanwings is near to Wizzair presents in exYU, as it is not even near. Wizzair has more flights, more routes and most of them are all year, not like Germanwings.

      But one must see that most of Wizzair exYU routes are to Serbia, Macedonia and BiH, and Germanwings to Croatia and Kosovo. One can just conclude that it is split market and whose interest is where.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:08

      Purger, so where is Bosnia in that split? We have both Germanwings and Wizzair flights :) Untill recently there were 3 routes from SJJ with GermanWings, now its 2, but still there are some :)

      Delete
  12. For this year yes it was only Ohrid with Luton from 10.06 - 13.09, Basel is all year, but from S16 (start od April) also Luton it's gona be all year....

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous14:18

    Ex-Yu - Transavia is a multinational company, so you could actually use two fags (French and Dutch) instead of one, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:21

      Two fags :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:54

      He he.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:19

      This comment really made my day - two fags, French and Dutch :) how queering kinky

      Delete
  14. Upitnik14:28

    OT: Tuzla airport questions

    how much (in Euros) is the taxi from the airport to town? If i arrive at 10pm am I stuck in Tuzla that night, lol ?

    There is apparently a daily transfer mini bus between TZL and Sarajevo (return 38€ jbte skuplji od avion) but i have no clue when is it running
    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:45

      Za cetrdeset jura ce te odvesti taksi do sarajeva.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:22

      Za 120 KM ce te odvest obicni taxi do sarajeva. Mozes mozda naci nekog na crno da te odvede za 80 KM ali ne bi to preporucijo.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:09

      Upitnik, try on hvala.dk thats the website for the shuttle transport in coordination with Wizzair between Tuzla and Sarajevo.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous15:40

    When will Wizz air start flying to the USA?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, this is a good one. You're killing me.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:29

      Thats not far from realistic, as Norwegian has already started a transatlantic low cost service. I expect low cost longhaul flights from BUD by end of 2016 or early 2017.This may be USA, also Thailand and China.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:32

      Norwegian can start flying Budapest - USA becuase they have widebody planes. Wizz would need to buy or lease widebody before the end of 2016 to start flying. New widebodies are not available for 2016 but there are used ones like Jet or Etihad A330.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous16:18

    Sorry for OT - but does anyone have news about the Express Airways flights from SPU and BWK - they were already supposed to start the new routes in May but haven't heard or read anything (also not on this blog).

    Just found out that their flights can be booked on their website e.g. Leipzig-Brac for a reasonable 59 EUR oneway. Are they actually flying yet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:57

      they started, but they have a B735, so they just fly to SPU

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:42

      So they cancelled all of their Brac flights or did they reroute them all to Split? And reimburse people the ferry rides and transfer to Brac? If so why are there no news at all about this exyu (Maribor) airline?

      Delete
  17. Anonymous21:28

    OT. Sea Air have pushed back there start again to 29 June blaming how they can't take credit cards for payment, also Vienna has been replaced with Stuttgart.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous07:46

    Any insider gossip on Wizz Air setting its f(l)eet in Podgorica? Still too expensive for them?

    There has even been talk of a TGD-BUD flight (backed also by political reasons) early this year...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous15:37

    У Бања Луци нема услова за Аирбус А320. Управа бањалучког аеродрома је гаражу за аеродромску опрему претворила у импровизовану хладњачу за претовар сировог меса на авио-палете. Сва опрема им стоји вани. Ни ја нисам вјеровао док то нисам видио. Ко су људи који воде тај аеродром? Шта је оно?

    ReplyDelete

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