Wizz Air is looking for an investor to set up an airline in Saudi Arabia. The Hungary-based Low-Cost Carrier can take advantage of the opportunities created by the A321.
Robert Carey, president of Wizz Air, told me in Vienna that they were looking at it, but needed an investment partner to work with them. A national airline should be a joint venture.
Wizz Air plans to launch 20 routes to Saudi Arabia from 11 European cities to ramp up its operations there. “Three routes will come in 2023,”
Wizz Air President Robert Carey
Saudi Arabia sees the growth of its aviation industry as an essential component of its Saudi Vision 2030. The nation wants to triple the number of passengers flying to 100 million.
Wizz Air and Saudi Arabia share similar goals. He said that Saudi Arabia talked about an 18% growth rate from now on. We are the same.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has four aircraft currently based there. Carey said they will go to eight aircraft during the winter. There are flights from Abu Dhabi to the islands of the archipelago. The markets are similar to Pakistan.
About 50 aircraft could be operated by Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. By the end of the decade, the Wizz Air Group wants to have 500 aircraft. A core of about 100 to 125 aircraft are dedicated to the east from eastern Europe.
Carey said that traffic rights from Abu Dhabi are more complicated because it is not an open market. Carey says the airline needs to think about how to approach bilateral markets.
Wizz Air has flights to North African and West African destinations from Italy or Abu Dhabi. Most nations are bilateral-restricted, according to Carey.
7% of Wizz Air's total capacity was taken up by the markets of Russia and Ukraine. The closed Russian airspace has led to the suspension of some routes.
Carey thinks the winter will be difficult. He said there will be high fuel prices and economic downturns. Consumers are very cost sensitive.
Customers will seek more cost-effective deals, which will put pressure on revenues. Carey said that they are the airline with the lowest costs in Europe. We know how to deal with crises.
I was told by Robert that Wizz Air plans to use the A321XLR on routes to the Middle East and Central Asia in the years to come.
He said that they had 47 A321XLRs on order. The aircraft are mostly going to the east.
Wizz Air isn't interested in joining the US market right now, as the ULCC sees a lot of opportunities in the Eastern Hemisphere.
The president of Wizz Air says that the A321XLR will allow flights from the U.K. to Pakistan or Central Asian destinations.
It's possible to go almost all the way to South Africa or Singapore with Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. There is a lot of demand for this aircraft.
He doesn't view the market the same way. Norwegian has shown that transatlantic is very difficult to crack. Lufthansa, IAG, and Air France-KLM can crush you with their joint ventures.
The Hungarian government has an A330F that can be used on North Atlantic routes. He says that it is not a market they serve regularly. For flights to the U.S., we don't have an operating permit.
Wizz Air's application for a foreign-air-carrier permit was turned down by the U.S. transportation department due to safety oversight.
The A321neo is important for Wizz Air. He says that they have 65 in the fleet. There are over 200 seats in the A321neo. The neo gives a 20-25% reduction in cost basis when compared to the A321ceo.
The Wizz Air Group will deliver around ninety percent of their new aircraft. There are some A320neos on order, which will be required to operate from a small runway in Germany.
Wizz Air has more than a thousand flights on over a hundred routes. Carey predicts 190 to 195 aircraft will be in the fleet by the summer of 2020.
The Wizz Air Group transported over 40 million passengers. 55 million people are expected to travel this year. Wizz Air UK, Wizz Air Hungary, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, and Wizz Air Malta are part of the Wizz Air Group. The aircraft from Vienna will be transferred to the Maltese registry.
Carey says that the LCC expects to have 500 aircraft by the end of the decade. He says that half of the fleet could be registered in Maltese.
Carey increased the number of Vienna based aircraft to five from four by the end of the year. Wizz Air has a number of routes from Vienna. Funchal, the capital city of Portugal's Madeira archipelago, will be one of three new destinations from Vienna. Some routes will be increased in frequencies.
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