Budapest-based low-cost carrier (LCC) Wizz Air has provided further detail on plans for its Abu Dhabi hub.
Speaking on a webcast with aviation consultant John Strickland, CEO József Váradi said that the airline plans to operate as many as 100 aircraft to and from the UAE by 2035.
Varadi has doubled down on the UAE subsidiary, after previously suggesting to shareholders that the plan was to operate a fleet of 50.
The new UAE routings will be operated with six Airbus A320 aircraft – an increase on what was initially expected to take just three.
Wizz Air flights are scheduled to restart within Europe on 15 June, with the new UAE routings kicking in soon after on 3 July. The first two markets to be served will be the airline’s home base of Budapest (Hungary) and Bucharest (Romania).
Additionally, Váradi says that the company will also be pressing ahead with flights to and from Katowice in Poland, Sofia in Bulgaria and Cluj-Napoca in Romania following on 15 September.
In my @ATMDubai webinar @Wizzair CEO Jozsef Varadi talks about his confidence in the #airline’s growth plans despite Covid-19, why Wizz will stick with its #Airbus order book & the opening of the new Abu Dhabi operation #aviation #aircraft https://t.co/9MfmhO8Qsd
— John Strickland (@JohnLStrickland) June 9, 2020
Váradi had previously revealed that tickets for the new Abu Dhabi services are set to go on sale later this month. Speaking to a conference call with investors, he said that “Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is well on track to get the airline delivered before the end of June.”
Wizz Air has not shied away from scaling up its operation as travel restrictions begin to lift around the world, announcing plans to expand into several Spanish resort destinations and the island nation of Cyprus.
Speaking to Arabian Business News, Váradi said that the company would look to coronavirus as an opportunity to expand its UAE operations.
“The likely backtracking of the industry and a contraction of markets, contraction of capacity… I think that actually ups our game in Abu Dhabi and creates a bigger opportunity, certainly at the start and even on a longer-term basis,” he told the outlet.
