Wizz Air will commence its first transcontinental service from Belgrade with
the introduction of flights to Abu Dhabi. The two weekly service will start on May 19 and run each Wednesday and Sunday. Flights will be operated by the
carrier's newly established Abu Dhabi unit and its 239-seat Airbus A321
aircraft. The airline replaces Etihad Airways, which terminated its operations
to the Serbian capital in October of last year. Abu Dhabi becomes Wizz Air's
fifth new route out of Belgrade this year following Hamburg, Sandefjord,
Heraklion and Santorini. Etihad Airways handled 114.256 passengers between Abu
Dhabi and Belgrade in its last full year of operations in 2019 on 924 flights
(return service included). Its average annual cabin load factor stood at an
extremely high 90.9%, with all services operated by the Airbus A320 aircraft
throughout the year.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 121.583 | 88.220 | 114.256 |
Prior to the pandemic, Wizz Air shortlisted Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Macedonia, Croatia and Montenegro as potential markets that could be served
from Abu Dhabi. Flights to Belgrade are currently operated by Qatar Airways and Flydubai
from the Gulf region. The Qatari carrier maintains three weekly rotations with
its Airbus A320 from Doha, while the Dubai-based airline, which is one of the most
successful foreign carriers currently operating out of the Serbian capital,
runs daily flights, with additional operations scheduled for the upcoming May
Day and Orthodox Easter holidays.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi launched operations on January 15 with its first route being to Athens. The airline is a joint venture between Wizz Air and the Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company. The carrier has a status of being Abu Dhabi’s national airline alongside Etihad Airways and Air Arabia. Commenting on the new route, Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, Kees Van Schaick, said, “Today’s announcement underpins our long-term commitment to providing low fares and high quality on board experiences to our customers. The new connection from the capital of the United Arab Emirates will continue to stimulate air traffic demand and support the growth of Abu Dhabi’s tourism sector and economic agenda. We look forward to welcoming passengers on board our new, green and ultra-efficient fleet”.
Further flight details for the new service can be found
here.
Nice!
ReplyDeleteFantastic news
ReplyDeleteFlying a low-cost carrier is a horror on long flights. I have now flown with Fly Dubai and never again. Wizz Air has an even shorter distance between the seats
ReplyDeleteWell for 100 euros, what can one expect really
DeleteNe želim da platim i da se mučim 5.5 sati. Poštujem sebe.
DeletePoštuj sebe, pa plati 200-300 € više za čašu vode, 2 cm legroom-a i par sitnica.
DeletePa nije ni Wizz Air namenjen za ljude kao ti. Realno, ako ti cena nije problem ne postoji razlog da bi putovao sa LCC-jem, tako da nije mi jasno cemu ovaj komentar. Ljudi koji nisu imasni kao ti (i koji nemaju samopostovanje valjda, prema tebi) bice vrlo srecni platiti samo 200 EUR umesto 500 EUR.
DeleteExcellent!
ReplyDeleteЉуди па ово је феноменално!
ReplyDeleteШта је феноменално што није било док су летели Етихад и Ер Србија? Мањи размак и ништа укључено у цену? Смешни сте.
DeleteTo sto je cena 300-400 evra jeftina of Er Srbije i Etihada.
DeleteТо је рекламна промоција. Какве цене је Виз имао у лето 2019 за Лондон, такве и још веће цене би морао да има за Абу Даби ако не мисле да губе паре.
DeleteПријатељу , чисто сумњам да ће Визер имати цене као Етихад на овој линији. Па са њима ниси могао да летиш за мање од 600 евра. Ови ће вероватно бити као флајдубаи, ту до 400 макс.
DeletePrijatelju, do Bangkoka preko AbuDhabi-ja je karta bila 420-520€ sa Etihadom. Godišnje sam išao od 2015-te do 2020-te. Nema teoretske šanse da je samo do AbuDhabi-ja bila 600€ osim na dan leta ako se uzimala . Realnije je oko 300. Sada košta oko 600€ sa Etihadom jer nema direktnog leta nego se vezuje preko Frankfurta. Let do AD sa Qatar Airways uz presedanje u Dohi je 330€.
DeleteAnon 15:49 is right, BEG-AUH was never less than 450 EUR return. The price of the direct flights had nothing to do with connecting ones. In 2015 I flew BEG-AUH-KUL and back for less money than my friend who just flew BEG-AUH and back around the same dates.
DeletePeople can't simply understand that connecting flights are often cheaper than direct ones. Check how much QR charges for flights to AUH or DXB (via DOH), than check for that same date, but just to DOH and you'll be surprised.
DeleteMarko is right. This is standard procedure.
DeleteUnlike QR and FZ/EK, Wizz won't be able to make extra money on transfer passengers. They have to squeeze BEG-AUH P2P passengers for every cent. Tickets will start cheap but will become more expensive.
DeleteOvo su reklamne cene, kad se linija uhoda prosečna cena će biti bar duplo skuplja, otprilike 200-250 evra.
DeleteLet's see what FZ does, hopefully they add more flights now.
ReplyDeleteGreat Belgrade!
ReplyDeleteAmazing results in these difficult times!
From June they are moving flights to Thursday and Saturday, same times though. I am sure BEG gave them a better deal to move to these slower days.
ReplyDeleteI think those days might be aimed at locals in AUH. Thursday is basically the day before the weekend (in UAE) and Saturday is the last day of the weekend. So people who work can go after they finish with work and can also return the day before they start work.
DeleteBEG didn't strike any deal with Wizz regarding these flights.
DeleteGreat news
ReplyDeleteBut can they really fill 480 seats to Belgrade/Abu Dhabi each week?
ReplyDeleteOf course, there is a lot of O&D demand between the two markets. Also for many AUH is the first stop on their way to Dubai.
DeleteI'm sure Wizz Air did the maths and there is a reason they started this route instead of maybe Skopje which currently does not have flights to the Gulf.
DeleteNowadays Wizz doesn't seem to do any maths. They open and close routes at random. Throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.
DeleteCome on, guys! Wizzair is a successful business. They are professionals and never open and close random routes. They just try to adapt themselves to the current situation and as a result, they close unsuccessful routes and open new onces. This never happens random. Due to covid, this is more frequent now.
DeleteIt used to be successful. Leaked pilot meeting notes do not sound professional. Founders Indigo Partners cashed out over half a billion and now own only own 8% of the stock. Does not inspire confidence in the future.
DeleteProfessionals? The schedulers are a bounch of teenagers employed from the street and the turnover is so high that the whole department is replaced in every 2-3 years.
DeleteWhen Wizz starts new flights from BEG schedulers are teenagers. When they start new flights from SJJ, SKP, TGD they are forward thinking aviation professionals :)
DeleteTeenagers, period. Anyone care to join them will find senior and junior network development and scheduling positions open nearly all the time. Surprisingly.
DeleteIn the end Wizz will add the same number of flights as they planned last year with the third based plane in BEG.
ReplyDeleteIf at one point JU and EY both flew this route then I think Wizz can do well. Belgrade is being marketed as a holiday destination in the UAE. Remember their residents can't enter the EU either.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's visa free for the many UAE residents from India.
DeleteWell there goes any hope of Etihad restoring flights.
ReplyDeleteThey could send Air Arabia Abu Dhabi.
DeleteAir Arabia planned to fly Sharjah - Belgrade in 2019. They even started ticket sales but I think interest was low since the route never started.
DeleteAir Arabia offers connections onto EY in AUH, they have a deal with them so it's different than Sharjah.
DeleteAir Arabia flying to Belgrade had to be cancelled because the UAE did not abolish visa in time .
DeleteIt was just incompetence and laziness of the Emirati authorities .
"They will also be supplied with an electronic wristband which will monitor their movement while in quarantine"
ReplyDeleteUmmm what?!?!
crazy haha
DeleteActually, smart and responsible towards the public. Numerous people I know were pretty lax with their quarantine last year and endangered us all by not staying home. If the option was an army barrack (state-operated quarantine) or electronic monitoring at your own home, I am sure the latter would be very enticing to people coming back from their must-happen trips during a deadly pandemic.
DeleteCan Wizz Air Abu Dhabi be used for transferring?
ReplyDeleteNo, you would have to buy two separate tickets. Also I'm not sure where you would transfer to. Most of their routes are in Europe anyway.
DeleteWell that's where someone coming from Abu Dhabi would want to transfer to.
DeleteIt's possible that if quarantine rules remain in place by the launch date they will move flights to Dubai.
ReplyDeleteI doubt they will be able to do it, since they're officialy based in AUH.
DeleteThey've already done it for other routes launched from AUH.
DeleteThey only launched ATH, SKG and HBE so far, with an aircraft and crew based in AUH.
DeleteThose flights they are doing to DXB are just moved from DWC, which is an airport Wizz served pre-pandemic.
I'm surprised by the amount of passengers on BEG-AUH-BEG especially in 2019.
ReplyDeleteThe question is how many of those were transfers and how many were actually point to point.
DeleteOver the past few years quite a big P2P market has developed. Lot's if Serbs now work in Abu Dhabi. There is also a lot of business travel from Abu Dhabi to Belgrade.
DeleteWhatch the Serbian CAD block them. LOL
ReplyDeleteThey can't. There is an open skies agreement between UAE and Serbia. Anyone can launch flights.
DeleteThank goodness haha
DeleteTurkey is welcome to renegotiate the bilateral. Haha LOL.
DeleteMissed opportunity for Air Serbia. They could have stepped in instead of Etihad.
ReplyDeleteYou snooze you loose.
DeleteI don't think Air Serbia has enough aircraft in its fleet, especially in summer, to be able to perform these flights.
DeleteAir Serbia did fly this route for years. Why step in into something that didn't work?
DeleteAir Serbia operated many routes that didn't work but worked for others. Completely different cost structure and completely different market conditions compared to then.
DeleteFuel cost beats other costs on this trip. A321 is better than A319 but will still lose money with 100eur tickets.
DeleteW6 has been operating long flights to UAE for years now. I doubt they would keep flying if they couldn't make money.
DeleteThis flight will be operated with A321neo, not the regular A321, so that means even better CASM.
DeleteIt says A321 in the article.
DeleteWell, that's a mistake, since they only have A321neo in AUH.
DeleteRegular A321 has 230 seats. The A321neo has 239.
It's not a mistake. The general name of the aircraft is A321. Same way you don't write A321ceo you don't have to write A321neo. The capacity gives you the idea which of the two it is.
DeleteTell me than why are there separate codes for the type? ICAO A21N, IATA 32Q?
DeleteYou can check the airbus website as well, there is always "neo" with the name of the type, as that's the name of the type - simple?
@Anon 00:52, If the type rating of the guy in the cockpit says it's the same airplane, then I doubt avgeeks know better. IATA obviously classifies aircraft differently than EASA and ICAO.
DeleteThe arrival time in AUH is quite bad.
ReplyDeleteTrue but it's an LCC. You pay for what you get.
DeleteBut the departure times are amazing.
DeleteWhat are the fares like?
ReplyDeleteReturn fares are 100 eur
Deletewow not bad at all
DeleteActually €90 without luggage.
DeleteThat's some serious price dumping ��
DeleteWe all know how Wizz works - price dumping and then legacy prices for not-Paris and barely-London.
DeleteWell in Abu Dhabi they are flying to the main airport.
Delete@Anon 19:31: Wizz Air average ticket price in 2019 was 39.5 EUR. Average revenue per passenger 67.1 EUR. Multiply these figures by two to get roundtrip figures.
DeleteHardly legacy ticket costs with average ticket price of less than 80 EUR for roundtrip.
Wizz average stage length in Europe was around 1:30h. To Abu Dhabi it will be about 4 times that, and the price will be at least four times that.
DeleteYou realise that flight lasting 6h doesn't have 4 times the cost of flight lasting 1:30?
DeleteSo this is the 9th new route from BEG this summer.
ReplyDeleteKiev (Skyup), Oslo, Abu Dhabi, Heraklion, Santorini, Hamburg (Wizz Air), Amsterdam (KLM), Luxembourg (LuxAir), Cologne (Eurowings).
DeleteThere will be more :)
DeleteAnon 14:23
DeleteDo you have some info about new arrivals or you just think there will be more arrivals?
Eurowings is not flying to Cologne (they're starting Stuttgart in May). WizzAir was supposed to start flights to Cologne, but then canceled that.
DeleteOpps sorry. You're right. Meant to say Stuttgart.
DeleteAnd don't forget Nordwind from Moscow and Air Serbia to Geneva which also launched this year.
DeleteGood move Wizz
ReplyDeleteGreat add I'd say. There is enough demand to Dubai alone to justify these flights. Good job Wizz. They seem to be increasingly optimistic and ambitious about BEG which makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteNext destination we need is Vienna.
Agree. Also nice to see that their last 3 new routes from Belgrade are non gasto.
DeleteDubai has a direct flight without quarantine requirement.
DeleteFlying to AUH on LCC, arriving at horrible hour, going into mandatory quarantine for 10 days, then transferring to Dubai? LOL what a stupid idea!
You are exempt from quarantine if you are going straight to Dubai from Abu Dhabi.
DeleteGoing straight to Dubai from Belgrade is even better. If Emirates start sending widebody to BEG once market recovers there will be no case for Wizz counting on Dubai market.
DeleteEK won't come to BEG, there is no demand for a widebody. FZ can't increase BEG to more than daily in summer and you think EK with its 400+ seats will do fine? lol
DeleteI think some people get carried away quite easily.
Even if EK hypotetically starts BEG, that would be even better for Wizz as they would compete against a full service airline instead of another LCC
DeleteAnon 15:52
DeleteThat's like saying Etihad and Air Serbia both had daily flights to AUH but Wizzair doesn't have demand for more than two weekly.
Before covid BEG had those two flying to AUH, Flydubai to DXB and Qatar to DOH, sometimes twice daily. When market fully recovers after 2023, EK could fly 787-9 to BEG and beat Wizz on price, comfort, range of classes, connecting destinations, cargo and service. It's not a question if EK will come to BEG, the question is when.
Dobra stvar u ovome je što su povratne karte oko 100 e i što će najverovatnije dok važi karantin za ulazak u Abu Dabi svi letovi da budu za i iz Dubaija kao što je trenutno slučaj sa letovima iz Sofije, Bukurešta i Atine
ReplyDeleteLetove iz Sofije, Bukurešta i Budimpešte obavlja avion i posada iz tih zemalja, te je u tom slučaju moguće sleteti na DXB.
DeleteAtinu obavlja avion i posada iz AUH, taj let ne sleće na DXB.
There is obviously some sort of demand from/to the Gulf. Qatar is again sending this Wednesday A321 to Belgrade. Outbound flight is full.
ReplyDeleteNice
DeleteI'm assuming most of those are transfers and not Doha residents.
DeleteOf course. Qatar and say Flydubai/Wizz Air Abu Dhabi carry completely different types of passengers to/from BEG.
Delete5 hours in flydubai from Bucharest to Dubai, night flight is disaster)) no space, a lot of people, no food even no water, all cost a lot of money... Doubtful. Its better to pay a little more, but to have opportunity any time to ask for coffee or what ever
ReplyDeleteThe only alternative then is to fly with Turkish or Qatar and transfer via Istanbul/Doha.
DeleteUgliest livery ever.
ReplyDeleteHow did they even get the permits?
ReplyDeleteThere is a free sky agreement between Serbia and the UAE. Any airline from either country can fly. Wizz Abu Dhabi is UAE registered.
DeleteI am relieved there is !
DeleteWhat happened in 2018? Why was there such a drop in passengers and then increase again in 2019?
ReplyDeleteHainan Airlines was flying to BEG and Iranian airlines. They took away passengers from Etihad
DeleteI hope for the resumption of Mahan Air flights .
DeleteSerbia was still popular with Iranians even when visas were reintroduced .
It is good to see that a route which was terminated recently will be covered relatively soon.
ReplyDeleteAnother disgusting livery.
ReplyDelete