Wizz Air currently operates eight weekly flights between Vienna and Pristina. Following the route’s suspension, Austrian Airlines will remain the sole operator between the two cities. The low cost carrier also maintains four weekly rotations to Podgorica, which will similarly be left exclusively to Austrian once Wizz Air withdraws. Likewise, Ohrid will lose its Vienna connection, with Wizz Air presently operating four weekly services. Flights between Vienna and Tuzla, launched only this June with two weekly flights, will be suspended on October 25 but will be restored from March 29, with the route to be operated by its Tuzla-based aircraft.
Wizz Air launched its Vienna base in 2018, with its current fleet of five stationed Airbus A321neo aircraft operating 28 routes to 20 countries. “Since the inception of Wizz Air’s Vienna base, airport costs and taxes have increased significantly. With Wizz Air’s strategic focus on building its Central and Eastern European core markets and delivering low fares made possible by cost discipline, operating from Vienna has become incompatible with the airline’s ultra-low-cost business model”, Wizz Air said. The airline recently announced the opening of a base in nearby Bratislava on November 14, which may result in the transfer of some of the affected routes.
Damn. Those are pretty big news, it was one of their most important bases after all
ReplyDelete5 aircraft hmmm....Not like OTP/BBU with 21 aircraft 🤣🤣🤣🤣
DeleteYeah I reread that and was surprised, they operate so many flights out of VIE but it seems a lot of them use jets from other bases, my bad
DeleteYes but you also have to compare others in VIE vs BUH. How many planes others have based there. There's the catch.
DeleteIt's simple - they're just moving to Bratislava.
DeleteThat's the result, we are discussing the cause.
DeleteNow they could start BTS-BEG. Low cost connection to Vienna is long overdue
DeleteThe cause is the usual one - CASK. Vienna taxes are too high and it's not considered to have strategic perspective so it was dropped.
DeleteIf CASK was the true issue then Ryanair wouldn't have touched VIE with a ten foot pole.
DeleteI rather think it's down to Wizz Air's inability to beat Ryanair in a major Western European market. They went head to head and lost.
Even though the market is big, it obviously isn't big enough for three major players. If anyone is celebrating today then it is the perpetually loss-making Austrian Airlines.
Our comments do not disagree. 'Lacking strategic perspective' means what you said in more direct manner.
Deleteto the expert above: Austrian airline is in the green
DeleteWow. Good to see at least Tuzla will continue.
ReplyDeleteJust to March 15th
DeleteHow come it's not expensive for Ryanair?
ReplyDeleteThey have the Lauda brand.
DeleteLauda is maltese airline now. Not austrian.
DeletePeople like the brand, they do not know or care where it pays taxes.
Deletepeople have no clue about the brand , they book ryanair flights
DeleteTypical Wizz
ReplyDeleteAll LLC are the same , Ryanair in this scenarios are even worse..
DeleteActually quite atypical. It's more a Ryanair move.
DeleteThey are the same I dont see any difference between them
DeleteWhat is "LLC"?
DeleteLow cost carrier
DeleteThat is LCC, not LLC.
DeleteLLC is Limited Liability Company (GmBH in German or even better "d.o.o." in Serbian :))
DeleteSorry instead of LCC i write LLC 😁
DeleteAustrian will now dominate these routes and passengers will feel it in their wallets.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat!
DeleteOf course you will be paying flag carrier not Wizz which you dont know it would take off on schedule or not :)))))
DeleteOnly two months of Tuzla flights and then suspension?
ReplyDeleteIt says will restore March 29 , with the base aircraft , assuming why dont do the same with Ohrid ...
DeleteDoes Wizz even have a base in Ohrid? Thought all flights originate from elsewhere
DeleteThey don't have an aircraft based in Ohrid. And they have a subsidy agreement signed with Tuzla for this route. They will break the contract if they discontinue the route.
DeleteI thought they have one aircraft in Ohrid ...then not make any sense. The only option would be other airline to took over it
DeleteThey might have a plane in OHD but this particular route was operates from VIE
DeleteThey DO NOT have a plane in Ohrid. Stop making things up. All Ohrid flights are operated from foriegn bases or Skopje base.
Delete@12.27 damn you are triggered. They might base one plane
DeleteTriggered by what? You wrote that they might have one plane in Ohrid, meaning that they may already have one plane in Ohrid and I wrote it's not true, because another person above was also making up the same thing. As far as I'm concerned I would love if they have a base in Ohrid, so my only trigger is people unnecessarily making things up.
Delete@12.58 im not him
DeleteBratislava is a airport of Vienna so they are not leaving there, Wizz will just focus on BTS, so at least the airport will revive, it has always been under the shadow of VIE.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but for a reason. Bratislava is hardly comparable to Vienna when it comes to pax streams, tourism, historic development etc.
DeleteOhrid just can't catch a break.
ReplyDeleteOhrid doesnt have luck to show its capabilities ....
DeleteOHD operator needs to do a much better job that it currently does.
DeleteWhat does operator have with this stupid airlines decisions my friend ??
DeleteWell it's up to the operator to attract carriers. Maybe they can work with the government to provide OS with subsidies or even work on attracting FR.
DeleteOk I understand that they need to work more and attract new routes and airlines thats their primarly job. But what does this decision have with them? They not left only Ohrid , they are leaving Vienna base and affects couple ex-yu airports. Now operator can just seek for bakcup plan to keep this route as its in huge demand and serves great z either GP or Austrian which I assume flag carrier to come to Ohrid ...
DeleteWell makes me wonder if they knew this was coming. Recently VIE bragged about their positive operating results and they announced a decrease in fees and charges. A while later Wizz Air announced their move to BTS.
DeleteI think internally people knew this was going to happen. Now it's up to OHD to find an alternative. Also, don't forget that OHD is not a large market so there is only so much they can do.
Definitely no operator can know such things like this airlines brings decisions by night. Someone internally yes could know something but not sure until recieve this notification.
DeleteOhrid is small city , popular for tourists only in summer , in winter except new year days is competely death , so I am assuming any serious player to continue the route , not even possible Austrian to start , their focus is sea not lakes.. you see what happens with turkish airlines , Ohrid cam handle big hubs for summer but not all year. This Wizz route was the only succsefull together with Dortmund,Memingen and Zurich
You never know with Wizz. They surprised everyone in Abu Dhabi when they left. And they just started Vienna-Tuzla the other month.
DeleteThey started Tuzla in June and will cut in Octomber just after 3 months , plus they are recieving subsidies for that route... they will re launch in April almost after 5 months
DeleteObviously they have some obligation on this route but only during summer season
DeleteDamn this is bad news for Ohrid😥Is it possible Austrian start flights to Ohrid from next summer with 3-4x weekly flights to Ohrid or not possible?
ReplyDeleteUnlikely. OS during the summer prefers to fly to beach destinations in the Med.
DeleteWell Ohrid in summer I think still can handle couple flights in week , at least the summer season. Btw this route to Vienna from Ohrid is amazingly full each flight this is huge impact ...
DeleteAny info where these 5 aircraft will be redeployed now?
ReplyDeleteVaradi says couple days ago their plans are to base 7 to 8 aircrafts to Skopje starting from 2026 , possibly to see some of them in Macedonia and some other bases
DeleteThere are already two A321 in SKP out of 5
DeleteThey will probably lunch flights from BTS to the rest of the region eventually.
ReplyDeleteI assume airport fees are cheaper in BTS than VIE
For sure Bratislava is cheaper , Wizz is not expanding in strong European economicly countries , also the same Ryanair doing
DeleteBratislava`s per capita GDP is higher than the one of Vienna`s.
DeleteNo way man. Stop spreading lies
DeleteFirst we had Wizz closing Abu Dhabi, then Ryanair's Spain downsizing and now this. Something big is going on with the LCCs.
ReplyDeleteI think Ryanair also left some german airports too...
DeleteIt's the European economy that is struggling. When I and many others on here wrote it we were mocked. Fast forward to today we see how many cuts are made all around. Even Aegean started downsizing and cutting. This winter they won't resume SKG-AMS and SKG-ADB.
DeleteBecause people only remember the negatives not the positives
DeleteMost airports are still slated for growth
Sure, the European economy is the reason why Ryanair is no longer going to fly to some tiny random airports in Spain, and why Wizz (a failing airline) is leaving Vienna.
DeleteAll countries are seeing passenger growth, and the EU continues to grow.
NEMJEE , Aegean begins 3 weekly SKG-IST and 2 weekly SKG-PRG on 24 and 25 of november .
DeleteAnon 09.57
DeleteThere is a reason why AENA had to hike their fees and no, Ryanair did not only cut small airports. Just because airports are reporting growing numbers doesn't mean airlines are making money.
Today's topic is best proof of that. VIE was booming but at what cost? The cost, as we see, was that two of its major carriers (Wizz Air and Austrian Airlines) are flying at a loss. So growing passenger numbers do not always indicate a prosperous and a healthy business environment.
But sure, keep ignoring the economic reality we live in.
Do Wizz and Ryan, and other European carriers, plan to have smaller capacity this winter compared to previous one? Did this summer season see pax decrease or increase in Europe? It could be true this is beacuse of economy but we need figures, not the feeling, to create the opinion on the topic.
DeleteGP Aviation will fill in. Or Eurowings.
ReplyDeleteOr a PRN-BTS route, to cover the market, if Wizz doesnt is smart enough.
Possible that GP to took over Ohrid , as they will operate Basel on behavl on Wizz air
DeleteEurowings doesn't have a base in either. Actually pretty dumb of them for closing PRN base, one the fastest growing airports.
Delete09:39 no one can go against GP in PRN , they are the drive force there. As long they exist thete nobody will be even close to what they do currently
Delete@9:45 what do you mean? GP aviation prices are not that cheap.
Delete@9.20 what are you on about. OHD-BSL Airbus A321neo (operated by Wizz Air Hungary)
Delete12:58 why then on airport google site saying GP to Basel from Ohrid?
Deletewhat is "airport google site"?
Deleteto add: I did a quick search on it, that is a sporadic charter organized by kosovar/albanian reisebüros in Switzerland. Three years ago they even used Air Serbia for that. There are also charters from Zürich with Helvetic.
DeleteWizzair flights to Basel have nothing to do with that.
Then we read comments on here how Ryanair should open a base in Belgrade. Funny how they think BEG can handle a three airline base when VIE obviously can't.
ReplyDeleteThere is simply too much competition at a time when purchasing power is declining all across Europe. That is why Wizz Air packed their bags and went to Bratislava. As we say in Serbian: боље први у селу него последњи у граду.
If SOF, OTP and TIA can have more than one LCC based there so can BEG.
DeleteWhat a ridiculous analysis. If purchasing power was declining, then Wizz Air would be GROWING because it is a cheap alternative to Austrian. Instead, Austrian is profitable and Austrian retains all these destinations that Wizz is cutting from Vienna.
DeleteYet, they don’t have (strong) national carrier
DeleteNeither do we.
DeleteMeanwhile W6 will have 14 aircraft based in TIA.
@9:58 No, its not. Purchasing power declining first strike the lower financially strong class of population, which mostly use LCC to fly. Actually, they travel a lot less
Delete10:15
DeleteYes, we do. We have 31 plane based at BEG.
Anon 09.58
DeleteSince when is Austrian Airlines profitable? They are consistently ranked as the worst performing airlines within the LH Group. What OS does is report a profit before taxes and interests. Once these are considered their profit rapidly becomes a loss.
As for purchasing power declining... ok, they will buy a cheap fare but once they reach their final destination they face more expensive hotels and services. So in the end they give up flying altogether.
Anon 09.45
DeleteAnd what do TIA, OTP and SOF have in common? They all have a weak and struggling national carrier. If Bulgaria Air did not have a rich parent company then they wouldn't have made it this far.
In OTP we have Tarom which is struggling more than ever while Air Albania is on the brink of collapse.
So obviously these markets are not big or lucrative enough to handle more than 2 carriers operating profitably.
In the end, TIA is currently a battleground between FR and W6 the same way VIE, RIX, SOF... were once upon a time. As time went by someone won and became a dominant carrier. The jury is still out when it comes to TIA.
I also think TIA is stil in battle mode
DeleteAnon 9:45
DeleteWizz already kind of lost SOF. Ryanair took over it. Although Wizz has 6 planes based while FR 4, Ryanair’s schedule is for 8 planes, just the rest 4 planes are used from other bases. Ryanair made some routes from Sofia like Bristol, Edinburgh, Wroclaw profitable while Wizz started flying Bristol in late 2015 and stopped it two years later.Wizz now started SOF-WMI/KRW and two weeks later ryanair announced the same routes. Guess who will win? FR. If you open Madrid schedule from Sofia, Ryanair flies it more than 4-5 times weekly while Wizz downgraded Mad to 3 times during winter! Same with BCN, while Ryanair flies BCN daily this summer and for winter are 6 weekly flights. In 2018 when SOF was like TIA right now, we had Rome/BCN daily by Wizz and Ryanair flying more than 4 times weekly too, eventually Wizz cut frequences and couldn’t compete. Regarding Bg air, their only profitable routes are to Varna(there is a rumour that they made both Wizz and FR stop this flight with their mafia techniques), Paris, AMS, LHR due to their codeshares with KLM and BA for the transatlantic/asian connections. Even Varadi said that both Bulgaria air and Tarom shouldn’t exist anymore. And I understand him, these two airlines are indeed not sustainable and the only valuable assets they have are their pilots/flight attendants and engineers. Human capital which will be immediately taken by Wizz basing more planes in Sof/OTP if they go bankrupt.
So Nis is the first exYu city to benefit from Bratislava base right?
ReplyDeleteWhy ?
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/08/wizz-air-to-commence-new-nis-service.html
DeleteWizz air does not serve Bratislava only from Nis in ex-yu , Skopje is also served
DeleteI think GP will continue Ohrid service because they will operate Basel on Wizz airs behavl...this is just my opinion
ReplyDeleteWhats this got to do with Basel? The article is about Vienna. Why don't you read the article first!
DeleteI am saying that GP will already serve Basel from Ohrid they could use the same aircraft for the Vienna route too
DeleteI am saying that GP will already serve Basel from Ohrid they could use the same aircraft for the Vienna route too
DeleteGP is not flying to OHD on somebodys behalf stop with the fake news
DeleteThey will fly Basel-Ohrid from Octomber open airport site and you will see
DeleteBig blow for PRN. No one can fill the route beside GP, which is no substitute for Wizz. Considering how the fees are structured at VIE, GP would be expensive.
ReplyDeleteWizz could open BTS-PRN if they intend to save whats left of their most succesful route. Or else GP will definitely take over. Or Eurowings. They also opearted alongside Austrian and Wizz for a short period of time.
DeleteAustrian will now increase tickets from PRN for sure. They will use this situation for a nice profit , couldnt happen something better for them,as this route is in huge demand as in many Ex-yu cities
DeleteEurowings does not have a base in VIE to operate flights to PRN.
DeleteDoesn't EW operate a base in PRN?
DeleteNo, they are long gone. When they had the base they even got permission for PRN to Switzerland flights which would have been a good cash cow for them. As I remember, Swiss based Lufthansa subsidiaries unions complained because those routes would be operated by crews with different union agreements which would affect their operations.
Delete09:35 They started this route and stopped it. Or are they planning to bring it back?
Delete@10:30, i am just expressing who potentially can fill the gap. Ryanair for sure won't start it. No other airline has a base in either airports besides GP. So. potentially, they are the only option to prevent an OS monopoly.
Deletehm, I can see BTS-SKP going daily now (if there is spare capacity at BTS)
DeleteBTS-SKP doing amazingly nice thats why its daily
DeleteWizz are terrible for cancelling routes and short notice flight changes, totally unreliable if you're planning anything more than a couple of months in advance.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest , not only them , alot airlines are doing this now. It was not like this in the past especially before Covid19... now this became like a trend , cut route by night or even leave a base. Flag carriers are also doing the same
DeleteNo one does it the way Wizz does it.
DeleteWizz is just the master in this moves :D
DeleteThe route from Ohrid to Vienna is so convinient and nice for all people that live in that part of the country , no need to go to Skopje. It is also so cheap and affordable to use it because the tickets are cheap for anyone to afford ,and planes are always full, now this is hugeee hit for Ohrid , TAV and ministry must find alternative for this!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe ususal chopping á la Wizz continues.
ReplyDeletePodgorica out of luck again.
ReplyDeleteWIZZ i sve je moguce. Za Ohrid ovog leta su leteli 5 puta nedeljno sa punim avionima.
ReplyDeleteIsto su uradili i sa linijom Ohrid-Basel. Leteli su je 4 puta nedeljno pu su je ukinuli, da bi je sad obnovili kad uzimaju subvencije. Obnovice i liniju za Bec,kad dobiju subvencije od Makedonske vlade.
Nemaju baziran avion u Ohrid zato i sa subvencije ne bi se to desilo to. Neka druga kompanija bi mogla da produzi liniju za Bec
DeleteIt's hard to analyze business moves of the company which can so easily burn millions in Vienna or Abu Dhabi and leave, with no influence on their management. So, I'll skip. Wishing them all the best and to all the airports who work with them...
ReplyDeleteTheir management has the role to keep the shareholders happy. Suppose they were aware of the risks and possible payouts of those expansions had they gone more successfully. They're still making money, but it showed that they bit much more than they can chew
Deletethe big question is will there be BTS - PRN,OHD,TGD?
ReplyDeleteEverything is possible
DeleteThe anwer is : Yes, there will.
DeleteWizz has 130k PAX to lose in PRN from this single route.
ReplyDeleteThey should launch BTS before the market shifts!
Where did you get that number?
DeleteClassic Wizz Air. Maybe Eurowings or easyJet will now consider reopening their Vienna bases. Especially Eurowings could be beneficial for EX-YU airports, as they would likely be willing to serve certain airports that Austrian doesn't show any interest in whatsoever, and would be able to provide connections through Austrian as well.
ReplyDeleteOS already flies to PRN & TGD
DeleteRyanair is going to compete head-to-head with Wizz in BTS too. Ryanair just announced 4 new routes from BTS, the same ones as Wizz did. This may not end well for Wizz in BTS :(
ReplyDeletelike which ones
DeleteThis could mark the begining of final collapse of Wizz Air. Abu Dhabi, now Vienna...two huge mistakes. Anyone wanna buy a bankrupt LCC?
ReplyDeleteSuch a cynical comment. Whatever you may think about wizz and their service the truth is it connected the region with Europe which allowed millions to fly who likely wouldn't have otherwise or would be in the mercy of our shitty state airlines
DeleteMalev path
ReplyDelete