5W7044 BEG-AUH
We arrived at Belgrade Airport with plenty of time to spare. Despite a little scare the previous week because of flight cancelations in the Gulf, ours proceeded as scheduled, with the difference that it would now fly over Iraq instead of Egypt, which didn’t make sense to me because would be flying directly between Iran and Qatar, but it would shave 20 minutes off of our flight time, so I didn’t have too much of an issue with that.
We didn’t have any bags to check, we had an online boarding pass to avoid the 40 euro (!) per person per flight “airport check-in fee” and passport control and security were very quick, so we were soon at our gate. Our plane for today would be an A321neo a hair under 5 years old, registered A6-WZA. It helpfully had the words Abu Dhabi on the tail, just in case we forgot where we were going.
Eventually boarding started. We mentally prepared for the prospect of spending 5 hours in a Wizz Air plane, and got on through the jet bridge. To our surprise, only about 30-40% of the whopping 239 seats were full – not the sort of load factor Wizz Air thrives on. Is it something to do with the cancelations, or the fact that it was flying somewhere where the temperature was 45°C, I don’t know, but that meant that the moment the seatbelt sign was off everyone got up from their assigned seats and sat wherever they wanted to (something exacerbated by the fact Wizz purposefully separates people booking together), or, more accurately, laid down wherever they wanted to, because having a whole row to yourself, effectively a lie-flat seat, is the pinnacle of luxury on Wizz Air.
We took off just seven minutes late and soon we were on our way towards Bulgaria. Our self-assigned seats were not the most comfortable, and were so light I had a feeling that if I had a good screwdriver I would be able to pick up the whole row with one hand. The middle of the backrest had literally only the leather between me and the hard seat underneath, and the rest of it wasn’t much better. Wizz Air seats also have the lowest seat pitch in the industry, at just 28 inches! I can’t imagine what it would be like to sit through 5 hours of that on a full plane, but many people haven’t had to imagine. However, prices for this flight go down to just 60 euros one way. People lament the golden age of air travel where you got caviar on board or whatever, but perhaps the real golden age of air travel is the one where it’s so democratised you can fly to another continent for that little. Just a thought.
Anyway, the flight was operated by Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, a joint venture between Wizz Air and the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, an Emirati sovereign wealth fund (which has since announced its closure as of September 1). The crew were from the Emirates, safety briefings and inflight magazine (which wasn’t the same as in the rest of the Wizz Air network) were translated into Arabic, the prices were in AED, and the plane was covered in desert dust.
Speaking of the inflight magazine, the only piece of entertainment provided to us, the seat in front of me didn’t have the inflight magazine, or the safety card (?), so I had to reach for a magazine in a neighbouring seat. It was torn. Oh well.
It contained the classic articles promoting the airline’s destinations, but to save money the menu for the trolley service was also printed inside. And my goodness, what extortion the prices are! How does it even make sense to try and charge people (who are, by the way, willing to suffer for 5 hours in a Wizz Air plane just because it’s cheap) 7 euros (or the equivalent in Emirati dirhams) for coffee? It’s beyond me. The trolley went round three times – half an hour, two hours and 4 hours into the flight.
Apart from a little turbulence over the Black Sea the flight was uneventful, and eventually we flew into the sunset somewhere over Turkey. The lights were dimmed and everyone spread out over their row of seats. Before that, though, a loo review was in order. The toilet was absolutely on the smaller (and louder) side, but actually clean, apart from one dirty tissue near the sink. Also, they seemingly couldn’t be bothered to fill the soap dispenser and instead just left the bottle there.
While putting the inflight magazine back into the seat pocket I discovered we (or, I guess, certain seats) were provided with this Wizz Air branded barf bag. The answer to the riddle on it, in case you were wondering, is “because I’m Europe’s most sustainable airline”. While I’m fully aware this is just greenwashing, interestingly it’s quite possibly true – that’s what new planes and engines and cramming 239 people into an A321neo get you.
We touched down at 12:03 local time, taxied to a remote stand and got blasted with a wave of hot humid air. After we were bussed to the terminal, we had to wait for a few minutes at immigration because this was our first visit to the Emirates, along with a brief additional security check. Overall, we got lucky, and for this price we had a great experience. See you on the return flight.
Inbound:
5W7043 AUH-BEG
While in the Emirates, we found out something interesting from none other than exyuaviation.com, which is that this would be one of the last flights on this route. This kind of surprised me, and the exact reason wasn’t given, but I guess 40% load factor can’t help.
We arrived at Zayed International Airport with time to spare. The airport building is very imposing, with this cool wavy design.
There was some sort of problem with online check-in so everyone had to queue up to get their boarding passes which meant we unfortunately had to wait for 20-30 minutes. While waiting we saw this cute robot presumably cleaning the floors.
We got to use the e-gates at border control and didn’t even have to show our passports. Security was also very quick. The airport wasn’t very busy at that time of day, with all the Etihad flights departing later on, and there being no more departures than at, say, Belgrade.
To pass the time, we went for a walk around the duty free and some of the other gates to pay a visit to the one and only A380.
Just like on arrival, our plane was parked at a remote stand. It was registered A6-WZA and was in all respects functionally identical to the one on arrival, except for being a few months newer. After something like 20 minutes of taxiing, we took off.
Our return was scheduled to be slightly longer than the outbound flight. Our flight was also going to be somewhat more uncomfortable, because this time the plane was around 80% full, which still , however, meant everyone could sit wherever they wanted to. Still slightly lower than average for Wizz, but certainly better than the outbound flight. In retrospect, this might’ve been because people whose flights were being cancelled were being rebooked onto ours.
This time, there was an adequate number of magazines (in one piece) and safety cards. The pages about how great Wizz Air Abu Dhabi was doing read less truthfully taking into account that 13 of their destinations were being suspended.
Loo review time! The trash was overflowing, and there was a crack in the floor. The built-in soap dispenser was again forgone in favour for just leaving the bottle there.
I only counted two trolley services this time, but I wouldn’t discount the possibility that I slept through a third. The flight attendants were polite and professional, if maybe dressed a little less glamorously than on Emirates.
Just like the plane, time flies, and soon we were coming into land at Belgrade. The Novi Beograd blocks weren’t quite as imposing as Abu Dhabi, but we still got a good view through the desert sand-dusty windows.
We took the choice of disembarking the plane through the stairs instead of the jet bridge for a change. We said goodbye to our plane and set off on the 10 minute walk to arrivals.
Customs was very efficient and soon we were landside. Overall, we were lucky for not having completely full planes on both flights, so the experience was actually kind of comfortable. Even if it wasn’t, getting to the Emirates and back (nearly 4000km one way) for 120 euros is undeniably a great deal, and it’ll be interesting to see if Wizz Air can finally crack low-cost long-haul with the A321XLRs they’re planning to expand their fleet with.
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That was a great and very informative trip report. Thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteWould be interesting if they start flying to US from CRL or LGW. 160$ for SWF and back.
ReplyDeleteYes, next MEL and SYD, specially for you.
DeleteThe XLR can not reach Australia from Europe as you very well know.
DeleteBut it can easily reach the East coast of the US and Canada from most western European countries.
They're already looking to reduce the XLR order. Not gonna happen
DeleteNorwegian tried that.
Delete^ With 787-9s.
DeleteIt is a bit ironic to see the title "Another remarkable year in Abu Dhabi" after they cancel all operations from Abu Dhabi. I guess it was not so remarkable...
ReplyDelete^ And at the same time they fly from Riyadh. Then they claim desert dust challenging their operations at Abu Dhabi...
DeleteWizz just closed their Riad base days ago.
DeleteThey never had a base in Riyadh. What on earth are you talking about
Deleteit appears Wizz Air's razor thin margins can't take a warzone in their flightpath
Deleteanother remarkable year in abu dhabi (for our competitors)
DeleteGreat trip report. For 120 euros I'd fly with them
ReplyDeleteHopefully Etihad will take over the Belgrade route.
ReplyDeleteFrom your mouth to God’s ears.
DeleteI took a return flight from Belgrade to Abu Dhabi in 2022. It was the first—and definitely the last—time I flew outside Europe with a low-budget airline.
ReplyDeleteThe departure flight was already delayed by a few hours, but at least they informed us in time, so that part was manageable. The real trouble started with the return flight. Just one day before departure, we were informed it was cancelled. The next available flight to Belgrade? Two weeks later. Obviously, we couldn’t stay that long in Abu Dhabi.
We called customer service and had to wait around two hours just to speak with someone. After a long, so-called “friendly” conversation, they offered us an alternative flight to Sarajevo, which was scheduled 2 or 3 days after our original return date. We had no choice but to accept it.
And guess what? That flight was also delayed. Every hour they told us it would be “just one more hour,” but in the end, we waited around 4 or 5 hours. At least after two hours they gave us food vouchers, but only for McDonald’s or a small Indian place. The voucher covered just one burger or one small main dish at indian place.
On that return flight, I met a man from Serbia who told me he was supposed to fly to Belgrade one or two days before us. He was already at the gate when his flight was cancelled without any prior warning.
In the end, we did get a refund for our extra hotel and food expenses but like after two years. What an amazing experience!
Also, I forgot to mention that I’m from Ljubljana, and we had driven from Ljubljana to Belgrade Airport with our own car. After arriving in Sarajevo, we had to rent a car and drive back to Ljubljana, where we returned the rental. Then, my father had to fly to Belgrade just to pick up our car and drive it back to Ljubljana.
DeleteHorrible experience but Wizz Air is known to be like that. I guess people always come back to them because of chea prices.
Delete18:36 You could've driven to BEG instead
Delete19:01 I know, but we made the decision to go to Ljubljana because we had already missed a week and a half of school (I was still in high school back then), and my parents didn’t want us to miss any more. Also, my father would have been too tired to drive that route—first, it would take about 5 hours to get to Belgrade, and then another 5 hours to Ljubljana. My mother isn’t the best driver, so my father prefers to drive himself, even when he’s tired.
Delete18:53 That’s true, but if you’re in Europe and flying with Wizz Air and your flight gets canceled, you at least have other options like taking a train, renting a car, or flying with Ryanair, etc. But if you’re flying outside of Europe, your options are limited — you either have to wait or book with another airline, which can be expensive. Personally, I’d rather fly with an airline that I know will provide support if they cancel the flight.
DeleteFor example, my parents flew to the U.S. last year with Lufthansa, and their flight was canceled due to strikes in Frankfurt. They received compensation that was actually more than the cost of their tickets, their meals were covered, and they ended up flying with Air France just four hours later. So I’d much rather fly with that kind of airline outside of Europe than risk being stuck and waiting two years to get a refund.
Goodbye my good old friend Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. You will be missed.
ReplyDeleteMeh
DeleteWizz Air Abu Dhabi flying to Belgrade wouldnt be needed at all if Etihad hasnt cancelled their flights before.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess this Etihad is to cancel flying with such good loadfactor?!
This Abu Dhabi is a messy place with no direction, completely clueless about what it wants to achieve!
Clearly they are jealous of Dubai-a place that is in every way superior.
Such a nonsense!
DeleteIf Etihad would have had a good loadfactor they would have never stopped flying.
Simple as that!
It's not nonsense. Load factor has been published here
Delete"During its last full year of operations on flights to the Serbian capital, Etihad handled 114.256 passengers on the route for an average annual cabin load factor of 87.2%."
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/07/etihad-and-air-arabia-reviewing-wizz.html
Try not to be so frusturated. You will live longer
Because Etihad was in very bad situation then, and they cancelled routes which were not bringing them high yield. Load factor has nothing to do with yield, if flight is full of transfers then yield is low, even with LF of 87%.
Delete