Low cost carrier Wizz Air is planning to further expand in the former Yugoslavia in the coming period and is considering new services from both Macedonia and Kosovo. As EX-YU Aviation News learns, the no frills airline will introduce flights from Skopje to Rome Ciampino, Malta and Vaxjo in Sweden. Furthermore, Wizz plans to launch services from Pristina to London Luton. Skopje Airport continues to maintain its position as Wizz Air's largest base in the former Yugoslavia with three aircraft already stationed in the city. The airline will launch a new two weekly service between Budapest and the Macedonian capital this April. Over the past year, there have been indications the carrier could base a fourth jet, however, neither the airline nor the airport have confirmed such plans yet. Last week, the Macedonian Minister for Transport said the government would offer fresh subsidies to carriers for the launch of new flights from the country.
Wizz Air will enter the Kosovan market this April with the launch of state sponsored flights between Budapest and Pristina. Both the airline and Pristina Airport have been engaged in drawn-out negotiations over the introduction of new services. Speaking at a press conference in December, Wizz Air's Chief Commercial Officer, George Michalopoulos, said the carrier was "in continued discussions with Pristina Airport over new routes". "Hopefully this is just the start", Mr Michalopoulos noted. The only airline flying between Pristina and London is Germania.
This summer, Wizz Air plans to base an additional two aircraft in the former Yugoslavia, add at least thirteen new routes and offer over two million seats for sale from the region. The carrier’s expansion will begin in Tuzla this March with the stationing of a second Airbus A320 in the city and the launch of flights to Bratislava, Cologne, Friedrichshafen, Nuremberg and Vaxjo. Similarly, in Belgrade, the no frills carrier will base a second jet from mid-May, which will see the introduction of flights to Friedrichshafen, Nuremberg, Hannover and Malta. The airline will also launch services from Budapest to Sarajevo and Podgorica, Basel to Osijek, as well as boost capacity on its London - Ljubljana route.
I wonder what other routes they might introduce from BEG... it will be interesting what destination becomes the first to be served daily. I think it will be Malmo.
ReplyDeleteMMX or EIN. Both seem to be doing quite well. I am sure NUE will be a success as well. That's a massive missed opportunity for JU.
DeleteRome makes sense. They would replace Alitalia which stopped flying a few months ago.
ReplyDeleteAll of them make sense. Rome would fill the void left by Alitalia, Malta is a bit exotic but there is tourism and a small diaspora, plus Wizz chose not to launch Nis-Malta but Belgrade-Malta instead so its fives the Skopje route a greater chance of success. Vaxjo is for gasterbaiters.
Delete9:17 The Malta diaspora :). Much love <3
DeleteI think Malta could only work seasonally but I agree it might be a too late to start sale for these flights.
DeleteWhy? They could operate them just during July, August and September. There is more than enough time. Wizz is still announcing new routes for the summer on an almost daily basis.
DeleteAgree with anon at 9:17. All these destinations make perfect sense and a lot of people here have suggested them over the last few months.
DeleteBut just to add I'm still not sure that Malta could work year round.
DeleteCIA feels a bit forced. Alitalia traffic was 90% connecting elsewhere.
DeleteOne notable omission from the shortlist is FKB. That one would be a guaranteed success.
And Vaxjo is... in the middle of nowhere, truly comparable to HHN in terms of distance from anything relevant. Just self-cannibalization, i.e. squeezing every drop out of the GOT market with no specific value added except for driving W6's published cost base down. Scratching their own itch if anything.
Växjö is well situated in southeastern Sweden and has a population of approximately 60 000. It's one of Sweden's fastest growing cities with a lot of IT-companies and big ex-yu diaspora.
DeleteI dont agree with Rome being "bit forced". Its a given! It has the same potential as BCN
DeleteBCN is a good comparison, I agree. Doesn't mean it suggest it's a success story, mind you.
DeleteLol @Vaxjo comment. Irrelevant. Sorry for being curt.
If this happens it would be amazing for Skopje. Plus new flights by Eurowings and Qatar Airways. It would guarantee another huge year of growth.
ReplyDeleteIn that case it could actually have a good chance of surpassing Pristina.
DeleteIn the end Wizz will have a market share of 90% in Skopje :D
DeleteWell if they introduce all these new flights Wizz Air will handle 1 million passengers from Skopje in one year easy. That's getting serious.
DeleteGood morning Maribor!
ReplyDeleteExpected that they will base a new aircraft sooner or later in SKP. But isn't it too late for summer 2017? I mean they usually put tickets on sale way in advance.
ReplyDeleteAnd what happens when the current government is gone? All signs point in that direction. Will the subsidies continue?
ReplyDeleteNaah... they'll keep the subsidies because they don't want to be labelled as the government that took away 'cheap' travel from Macedonians.
DeleteNaah indeed....the subsidies are almost gone anyway. The only thing they will look more detailed into is how TAV have "won" the tender
Delete+1 @11:04
DeletePRN expansion was inevitable as well.
ReplyDeleteis it true that they will open a base in LJU in 2018
ReplyDeletewhere did you get that from? If it's true, it could be a preemptive strike against Ryanair.
DeleteIt would be great news if true. It would finally put pressure on ZAG to negotiate with LCCs.
DeleteIf Wizzair can afford to pay expensive Frankfurt/Main, it can also afford to pay Ljubljana fees.
DeleteIf Germany can have 3'000 EUR average salary, Ljubljana can also have 3'000 average salary. Your argument in a different light.
DeleteI wonder how their new flights from Budapest to PRN, SKP, SJJ and TGD are selling. Anyone know?
ReplyDeleteActually you can check. Just go and start making a booking. When it asks you to choose a seat you will see which ones are occupied and can calculate the LF on the flights.
DeleteLast anon, unfortunately that's not how it works. Seats are blocked and unblocked depending on how the plane needs to be balanced.
DeleteI didn't know that. My bad then.
DeletePersonally, I think they will have trouble filliing more than 50 seats per flight and even that's optimistic.
Delete@last anon. you say that every time. anything else you have to say?
DeleteGreat news for Macedonian consumers again
ReplyDeleteThis would be great news for Macedonia and Kosovo. Thanks Wizz.
Delete4th aircraft in SKP would be good to add 1 or 2 new routes and increase frequencies. Most routes are still only served twice per week.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The majority of the new routes from last year were launched by cutting frequencies on existing routes at the time.
DeleteWizz is reducing Memmingen SKP. Operational reasons apparently.
ReplyDeleteAgain???
DeleteAre they going from 2 weekly to 1 weekly now?
Their flights to Memmingen are always full. I dont know why the cut frequencies.
I hope this will make room for Eurowings MUC - SKP service.
Sorry I wanted to say they reduced Memmingen recently. We are probably thinking about the same reduction.
DeleteFinally they are thinking of a holiday destination from Skopje.
ReplyDeleteAnd where does BCN fit into this perception of yours?
DeleteMLA is more gaesterbeiter than BCN anyways.
o kojim gastarbajeterima sanjas ti?
DeleteO onima koji zive na Malti. Ima ih dobar broj. Sri i Makedonci su im glavna pridosla radna snaga.
DeleteTo smo vec raspravili ima ih par hiljada nedovoljno za avionsku liniju. I onda opet dodje neko i pominje gastose.
DeleteNeko valjda zna o cemu prica. Pozdrav.
DeleteSve nesudjeni CEO avio kompanija.
DeleteThis would pretty much mean there will be no new routes from INI this year.
ReplyDeleteSeems like it, so far they've only increased INI-DTM from two to three weekly.
DeleteLet's see how these routes perform in summer, maybe in winter something will change.
INI had a great January.
Wizz Air will add another 25 aircraft to their fleet this year. Expansion is inevitable and they are targeting underserved regions, such as ex-Yu. A fourth aircraft is definitely coming to Skopje and a base in Pristina is very likely in 2018.
ReplyDeleteNot 25 but "only" 14.
DeleteI doubt they will open a base in Pristina, having SKP nearby and I'm pretty sure they target Kosovo as well from SKP.
DeleteIf SKP management plays smart, they can position very well for a market of about 5 mil people from Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, South Serbia and parts of Bulgaria. I don't think INI is threat to SKP.
INI is already advertising itself all throughout southern Serbia, I think they even have some billboards in Pristina. They are definitely targeting this market and according to an INI statement they are receiving passengers from various parts of Kosovo.
DeleteSo I wouldn't say that INI is no threat to SKP, especially when it will take away all passengers from southern Serbia that used SKP in the past.
Expected Rome. Alitalia drops the flights an in comes Wizz.
ReplyDeleteAnd nothing from Sarajevo except Budapest. Typical.
ReplyDeleteWell, SJJ is stupidly expensive and politicians in Sarajevo would rather fill their pockets with useless taxes than to invest in the country's infrastructure. I mean they have an €18 tax for the improvement of airport infrastructure. lol
DeleteThey did plan flights from Sarajevo to a few cities. But like it was reported here a few months ago the deal feel through. But they will keep trying and negotiating and the flights will happen sooner or later.
DeleteHave no idea why is everyone so excited about Wizz's new routes. They are one of the worst airlines. I flew with them once. The aircraft was so dirty I don't think they even cleaned it from the previous rotation.
ReplyDeleteI think people who can finally travel quickly at a low price rather than have to take a bus to visit family and friends don't really give a damn.
DeleteI second that. Flew to EIN and the aircraft was filthy, cramped, service worse than on a train, horridly bad journey, never again for me.
DeleteIn Belgrade they clean the plane only at the end of the day. It is not cleaned in between flights so no surprises.
DeleteFunny how the flights operating from Poland provide a completely different experience. Says a lot about the crowd on those flights.
DeleteExactly, no LCC cleans the aircraft during turnaround, there is no time.
DeleteI hate Wizz. I hate that all low cost options from Skopje are with Wizz.
ReplyDeleteYou better move. :)))))
DeleteMalta would cannibalize their SOF A321 flight
ReplyDeletethere is already enough demand from SOF. Don't forget that until last year Air Malta was flying daily to SOF via ATH.
DeleteSome business partners of mine ( from Romania ) told me that Wizz is worst than Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteMy business partners from Romania told me they're better than Tarom.
DeleteMy business associates from Bucharest tell me that Blue Air is better than all off them (FR, W6, Tarom).
DeleteBlue Air? Sure, with 5 subtypes of the 737 operated within a 24 aircraft fleet (some of them are only 28 years old, way to go!) and near-bankrupt every other years. Best of them all.
DeleteWizzair is about to announce new routes from Frankfurt/Main (FRA)! They will be the second low cost airline at FRA, which eventually will lead to the introduction of flights from ZAG as they are currently undergoing a strategy change.
ReplyDeleteSOF and BUD. They have just announced it.
DeleteStrategy change is just kicking against FR invasion, nothing innovative. Guess who will have 2 based aircraft at FRA from this year onwards?
DeleteHow much iz Wizzair paying FRA airport per passenger? It can't be just 3 eur?
Delete3 EUR? Are you seriously referring to INI's cost per pax?
DeleteIt cant' be more than 20-25 eur per passenger. Wizzair is more than happy to pay that fee just to get into FRA market.
DeleteWhat Wizz is doing to ex yu airports is extortion compared to this. SKP can increase the prices by 5EUR and Wizz would pay. What else would Wizz do, put 3 planes back into hangar?
DeleteI think we have the next Director of Commercial traffic development right here. I wonder how they've never thought of this.
DeleteGoogle 'leverage', verb, 2nd meaning.
Anonymous at 1:30 PM
DeleteWizz could use these three planes to dozens of other bases in Europe.
The only loser would be SKP who would be begging FR to serve it and having to agree to its usual blackmailing.
Vi stvarno verujete da Wizz ima profit?
DeleteNe verujemo. Njihovi vlasnici su sigurno neki ludaci kojima se dopada da gube novac iz godine u godinu. To je svakom teoreticaru zavere jasno kao dan.
DeleteNe lupetaj i pogledaj financial sheetove americkih kompanija. AA zaradjuje vise od DAL, ali ovi drugi ubijaju sa profitom. Jbg AA poslovao sa gubitkom kao i Wizz.
DeleteDobro je imati takve letove ali bi trebali Aerodromi potruditi oko dolaska drugih LCC sto bi bilo dosta bolje za njih.
ReplyDeleteAli ne svakako je jos bolje da dovedu sto vise full service kompanije zbog konekcija prema ostalim Destinacijama.
INN-NS
Svakako.
Deleteti bre izgleda stalno letis do nekih exoticnih destinacija, cim si zapeo toliko za letove sa presedanjem. Meni 99% treba point-point i jos bolje ako nije neki veliki aerodrom, glavno da je povoljno (cena, vreme, udaljenost do cilja...).
DeleteKakve su to full service kompanije? Ako si mislio na legasi kerijere oni odavno više nisu full service i imaju posluženje ko i LCC, nikakvo il skromno.
Deletezasto se gastosi bune kada imaju svoje lcc kompanije. covek je vec drzavljanin austrije i interesuje ga da putuje udobnije. za vase siromaske fore imate Wizz i ciao. Malu torbicu i putujte,
DeleteJa nisam drzavljanin Austrije niti mi je to u interesu.
DeleteMislim na full service kompanije zato sto su bolje za Aerodrome nego neke LCC kompanije zato sto vise donesu Aerodromu.
INN-NS
Znaci full service ne znači da imaju maksimalnu uslugu i posluženje, nego full service znači da plačaju više aerodromu. Koji ti Kenbriđ dikšnri koristiš, majke ti? Vidim, Marko, engleski ti nije bolja strana, ha vazduhoplovni eksperte?
DeleteI'm assuming these new routes will be announced soon. They just announced new flights from Frankfurt and new flights from Reykjavik.
ReplyDeleteI live in Växjö, and work at VXO Smaland airport for several years now. We have MANY ex yugos both in the city (I'm an example myself) and in the surrounding cities and towns. Mind you, our gastarbajteri are not poor people, they are mostly well educated, have a good and stable income and can afford to travel to ex Juga several times per year. As far as I know our coming flights to Tuzla are already more or less sold out, so I strongly believe flights to Skopje would be a success.
ReplyDeleteWizzair confirmed new service London-Pristina-London!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/02/wizz-air-confirms-new-pristina-service.html
Congrats Pristina!
Delete