Low cost carrier Wizz Air will launch flights from Vienna to Tuzla, Ohrid and Niš later this year. The carrier will open its Austrian base with one Airbus A320 aircraft in June, which will be followed by the deployment of two additional Airbus A321 jets in November. This fast growth of Wizz Air’s Vienna base will see the airline operate a total of seventeen new routes from the city in 2018. The airline’s operations will also contribute to the local economy, supporting jobs in the aviation, transportation, hospitality and tourism industries. The carrier has so far used nearby Bratislava as an alternative to the Austrian capital. Wizz Air's CEO, Joszef Varadi, said, “Today, everything changes for Austrian travellers. For the first time, truly low fares arrive in Vienna. Wizz Air’s Austrian customers now have the opportunity to travel from Vienna on an extensive network of routes to Europe and beyond at the lowest prices and experience Wizz Air’s great service on board one of Europe’s youngest fleets. The new routes will also allow Wizz Air’s customers from other countries to experience for themselves the beauty of Austria’s cities and mountains. We are confident that our excellent value service and extensive route network will make Wizz Air the airline of choice for travellers to and from Austria”.
Services from Vienna to Tuzla will commence on April 27 and run three times per week, each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It will be followed by Niš and Ohrid from November 15 with three weekly services as well, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. As a result, the low cost airline will suspend its seasonal flights from Tuzla to Bratislava from April 23. The airline will face no direct competition on services to Ohrid and Niš, although Ryanair maintains operations between Bratislava and the south-east Serbian city. Tickets for the new routes are already on sale and available for purchase through the carrier's website.
| Route | Launch date |
|---|---|
| Tuzla - Vienna | 27.04.2018 |
| Vienna- Niš | 15.11.2018 |
| Vienna - Ohrid | 15.11.2018 |
Click on route for more details
Services from Vienna to Tuzla will commence on April 27 and run three times per week, each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It will be followed by Niš and Ohrid from November 15 with three weekly services as well, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. As a result, the low cost airline will suspend its seasonal flights from Tuzla to Bratislava from April 23. The airline will face no direct competition on services to Ohrid and Niš, although Ryanair maintains operations between Bratislava and the south-east Serbian city. Tickets for the new routes are already on sale and available for purchase through the carrier's website.
There is a significant Bosnian, Macedonian and Serbian diaspora residing in Austria. Tuzla has been attempting to secure services to Vienna for some time. Montenegro Airlines launched flights between the Austrian capital and Bosnia and Herzegovina's third largest city in December 2015, however, the route was short-lived since the carrier sold tickets solely through a local tour operator. On the other hand, Niš has identified Vienna as a destination with high demand. Wizz Air will add a significant number of new destinations to its network this coming summer season. Besides Vienna, the expansion will include new seasonal flights from Warsaw and Katowice to Podgorica.
But isn't Vienna really expensive for low cost airlines? How are they going to make it work?
ReplyDeleteThey slashed their charges from January 2018.
DeleteFrankfurt International is expensive too but Ryanair is opening a base there
DeleteDidn't easyjet open a base at Vienna?
DeleteYes, they also took an Austrian AOC.
DeleteRyanair will start flights to VIE soon as well.
DeleteFR will not come to Vienna any time soon. Apart from that a lot is going in Vienna besides OS' regency in the LCC sector:
DeleteWizz would be a real surprise.
Easyjet flies already 11 routes from/to Vienna but has not based a single aircraft at the airport so far. But they have so many departures each day from Vienna now, Berlin for example (both airports) will soon be served up to 8x daily by U2.
Easyjet has however founded a EU sister company which is based in Vienna (planes have Austrian reg).
Euroeings Europe has a large number of planes now based at Vienna.
Vueling bought Niki through IAG and has announced it will base at least 5 aircrafts in the city by April.
Niki won't be taking off any time soon, the brankruptcy has been moved to the Austrian court which will only complicate things.
DeleteI doubt there will be further delay as IAG wants to use the high yielding summer season for sure.
DeleteI just read that IAG already informed that it will remain committed to the purchase of Niki also now that the Austrian court is in charge of the bankruptcy proceedings.
So it's gonna be a nice fight then between Easy, Eurowings, Vueling/Niki, Wizz in Vienna. Much lower prices expected soon.
Good addition. Hope it hapens.
ReplyDeleteIf they base a plane in Vienna then they could easily operate double daily flights to BEG.
ReplyDeleteThe Vienna route can work to any ex-Yu city. Good for Tuzla. Hope they add another ex-Yu city.
ReplyDeleteAgree. As far as I can see Wizz will keep Skopje from Bratislava. I see potential for them to start Vienna-Niš. Belgrade not so much. Last time Niki flew this route Austrian and Jat joined forces, slashed prices and kept the same until Niki was forced out.
DeleteWizz Air is no Niki.
DeleteTrue. It would have a big impact on JU.
DeleteAlso back then JU and OS used to codeshare, that's no longer the case.
DeleteIf they were faced with strong competition again, they would work togeather again.
DeletePlease give us flights from INI to Vienna!
ReplyDeleteRyanair already flies Bratislava-Nis.
DeleteYes but if Wizz started Vienna they would easily compete against them and win.
DeleteWell done Tuzla! I think this will be a profitable service.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt
DeleteI still can't get over the fact that Tuzla has handed over 500,000 passengers! That's impressive.
ReplyDeleteSeems like it's happening since there are no more flights between Bratislava and Tuzla from the end of April.
ReplyDeleteAnd still nothing from Banja Luka, from which I am sure there is even more potential to Vienna. Shame on the airport's management.
ReplyDeleteEverything that is happening in Tuzla could have happened in Banja Luka. Wizz came to BNX first to negotiate routes and a base. BNX didn't want them. This is the end result.
DeletePoliticians are to blame for that.
DeleteCorruption ... that's all
DeleteThis is great but Tuzla desperately needs another airline. Too much over dependence on Wizz.
ReplyDeleteDistance between Tuzla-Vienna is too close. Diaspora prefers driving 7-8 hours and have their car available while they are on vacation. Vienna could work with Sarajevo and Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Wizz Air avoiding Sarajevo? Except for the Budapest route nothing. Don't get it.
DeleteToo expensive?
DeleteThey have talked to SJJ numerous times. SJJ does not want to give them discounts.
DeleteIt's not about the discount. It's about SJJ's stubborn inflexible opening hours.
DeletePrije bi kazao kako im auto treba za pokazati se
DeleteSarajevo airport is a lucrative government firm. This and BH Telecom are the only two profitable government firms and they are the most expensive in their respective industries! Sarajevo Airport is extremely expensive, you can take a look on charges online. Moreover, the Sarajevo airport management is so short-sighted that they are not even opened to hear anything from the LCC.
DeleteI know some people in the management, they can't see the difference between A320 and B737. And I don't want to even start talking how they got that position...
http://www.sjj.ba/files/Airport%20and%20Handling%20charge%20list%20for%202015%20-%20WEB.pdf?rnd=123123
DeleteOpening hours, you say? Sarajevo airport is open from 0500 till 2300 (summer time) and you say that's the issue? What do you think, where did Tuzla get money to expand the terminal? You think they earned that money from Wizz services? No, they didn't. Their money came from SJJ, same as the equipment they had, which is donated from SJJ. Everything came from the pax tax that goverment is trying to exploit as much as they can. Sjj is trying to get out of that chains, but with Tuzla current situation about expanding terminal, I think it's impossible.
DeleteIf you were anywhere near the conversation you'd know opening hours are *the* major issue.
DeleteDONATED? SJJ is not a charity organisation, it is a very inefficient government entity transferring resources from one place to another. SJJ is trying to get out of chains? I think I know where are you working now and believe me, full privatization is the only way to deal with it.
DeleteFurthermore, Tuzla airport might not getting anything from the Wizz Air but the whole region is seeing a huge indirect benefits from these flights.
Yes, it's DONATED. Property of SJJ, bought from the money that SJJ earned. They've got jet starter, GPU, some tugs etc. Same as Mostar. And yes, I do work at SJJ, and I vote for privatisation too.
DeleteWork harder for privatisation, SJJ is a shame compared to much smaller cities in the exyu region like Pristina or Podgorica
DeleteSurprising that Bratislava-Tuzla didn't work out considering the diaspora in Austria.
ReplyDeletemozda Mijo i Haso ne znaju da je Bratislava tako blizu :D
Deletehaha, a good one
DeleteThere are rumors that next destination from VIE will be Ohrid for W6
ReplyDeleteThat would be a smart choice. Kepp Bratislava from Skopje and introduce Vienna from Ohrid.
DeleteAbout time they start a new route from Ohrid.
Deletebetter choice would be to introduce VIE from SKP and move BTS to OHD :)
DeleteOS with its double daily wouldn't mind I'm sure ;)
you were right :D
DeleteExcellent news. Like someone said I see any city in ex-Yu as a possibility for flights from Vienna.
ReplyDeleteTuzla Airport management is way too conservative with those estimates. They can reach well over 600,000 in 2018.
ReplyDeleteThey were very conservative with estimates for last year too.
DeleteTuzla's success is partly thanks to BNX and OSI incompetence but also because of ZAG charges.
DeleteMore like SJJ charges, ZAG is too far to make that kind of impact on TZL.
DeleteWow, thia could be a game changer. Wizz flying from VIE. This is another proof that so called 'legacy' model and LCC/ ULCC are converging. VIE-BEG may still be expensive for wizz, however JU should taken a note, as they are the weaker operator on the route.
ReplyDeleteWhy would VIE-BEG be expensive for them? They would be linking two hubs.
DeleteJust my feeling, as Tuzla is much cheaper than BEG for Wizz. Wizz attracts p2p, and hub nature doesn't mean as much. In addition, there are two airlines already flying the route with dense schedules. Tuzla-Vienna doesn't have direct competition from airlines.
Deletemy2cents
Is Tuzla becoming the new low cost alternative to Belgrade? Only 146 km apart
ReplyDeleteNo because all the low cost routes you have in Tuzla you have in Belgrade. If Wizz based a third plane in Tuzla and not in Belgrade then perhaps. Also in BEG you have more than one LCC flying unlike in Tuzla.
DeleteOn top of that there is a border between Belgrade and Tuzla and the road to TZL is horrible, to say the least.
DeleteBut I think it might be used by people in western Serbia
DeleteBut which ones exactly? For people living in Sabac it's easier to drive those 15 km to the highway and then to BEG. Maybe Loznica? Bad road infrastructure in Bosnia is working in BEG's favour.
DeletePre dva meseca sam leteo iz Tuzle za BRATISLAVU i nazad Wizzairom za 15e, a onda iz Bratislave Flixbusom do Beča za 5e. Mnogo vise mi se isplatilo nego 240e iz Bg. Inace sam iz Bg i cuo sam dosta ljudi sa Srb akcentom na tuzlanskom aerodromu. Ovo je divna vest !!!!
DeleteThere were tons of cars with Serbian and Croatian registration plates at TZL airport every time I flew from there. People also use the airport all the way from Banjaluka and Sarajevo, cheap flights..
DeleteMany things we can't predict but one thing we unfortunately can is that we won't see them launch VIE-ZAG.
ReplyDeleteIt's us passengers who have to suffer because of OU's incompetence and ZAG's greed.
If they can make TZL or SKP work then I don't see why ZAG wouldn't. Not to mention that yield should be higher.
DeleteBecause Zagreb is more of an expensive airport then Tuzla qnd Skopje
DeleteCan anyone explain me, how on earth is ZAG considered expensive? I checked LJU, BEG and ZAG web pages for their price lists and couldn't find much difference between the charges. LJU charges 16 EUR per passenger, BEG charges 16.5 and ZAG 17. Looking at the landing charges, LJU charges 7.65 EUR per ton + 1.65 per passenger, BEG charges 7.7 per ton and ZAG charges 6.5 per ton + 1 per passenger. So, what is this fuss about?
DeleteMany airlines have complained that ZAG is expensive, even EW spokesperson said it. There gotta be something. They are probably talking about some other charges like the airbridge, ecology tax, Croatia development tax...
DeleteMany airlines compare ZAG prices with the coastal airports in Croatia, where airports are operated for public benefit (to support tourism) and passenger service charge is 10 EUR in every one of them.
DeleteThat is the official price list but the likes of Wizz would like to pay less than 3 EUR per passenger of better yet be subsidised. If I remember correctly they were given very large discounts at Belgrade when they first based an aircraft there but were later forced to pay more.... they kicked a a fuss and threatened to leave but in the end stayed. Remember Wizz has a huge amount of planes on order (near 300) and they will need to find work for these planes. The result will be that they will have to accept paying more to airports like at Belgrade and their margins will be squeezed.
DeleteI am pretty sure we will start seeing them more in Croatia because I don't think they will have a choice and they will try to get the large discounts but I doubt the airports will be dumb to their situation. We could even see them operating from Zagreb soon.
But that's the thing, they are expanding in the whole area around ZAG. So Croatia is not the problem, Zagreb is.
DeleteThey have flights from Tuzla, Osijek, Split and Ljubljana. They seem to be doing fine in all of these markets. ZAG is not on the list because they seem to be extremely expensive, I mean even EW complained.
Zagreb, similar to Split seem to be happy to keep their prices fixed. My argument here is that Wizz air in the end will have to give in and accept these higher prices if they want to continue to expand. All they will do is find savings elsewhere like Ryanair have with their flight crews.
DeleteThe way things are going Tuzla will overtake Sarajevo :D joking but still great results.
ReplyDeleteYou're not far from the truth tho.
DeleteVIE-LJU!!!!
ReplyDeleteOr are they afraid of Adria's SAABs. :D :D
It's about time they add a new route from Ljubljana.
DeleteVienna would be a cash cow for them but it would really hurt OS and JP.
DeleteWOW!!!
DeleteThis will be a MAJOR MAJOR blow to OS and their profitability for short haul ops from/to Eastern and Southeastern Europe!
Also a blow to JU.
DeleteThere are reports that Wizz will have its press conference about Vienna today. But it's not 100%.
ReplyDeleteDo you know what time?
DeleteIf they do announce anything today they usually do it in the early afternoon.
DeleteWould be nice for Wizz to start some new ex-Yu routes. Last year's expansion did not turn out very succsessfull.
ReplyDeleteThey were not from Tuzla and Belgrade but they were fron Skopje.
DeleteWell of course when all the new routes they launch from Skopje are subsidised.
DeleteNow isn't that true.
DeleteI wonder if they will fly some western european routes from Vienna like they will start from London. That's a change to their strategy.
ReplyDeleteWhat other routes would have potential from Tuzla?
ReplyDeleteWould be nice if they finally introduced a non gasterbaiter route.
DeleteZa koga?
DeleteIT'S OFFICIAL! Wizz is basing 1 A320 and 2 A321s in Vienna. Route announcement coming soon.
ReplyDeleteWow!
Deletewel all flights are bookable. its not only East Europe ...also spanish destinations .. quiet a big announcement
DeleteINI-VIE will start in November, according to their website.
ReplyDeleteLetovi se već mogu bukirati na wizzairovoj stranici!
ReplyDeleteWizz Air will launch VIE-INI. Well this will be fun... let's see how FR responds.
ReplyDelete-2-4-6-
DeleteVIE-INI 13.55-15.20
INI-VIE 15.55-17.20
who would fly to Bratislava now, when there will be a direct flight to Vienna?
DeleteI don't see a bright future for FR on this particular destination
Well there is still a large Serbian work diaspora in slovakia Nowadays particulary in Bratislava region
DeleteDestinations out of VIE:
ReplyDelete1. Tuzla
2. Varna
3. Larnaca
4. Billund
5. Kutaisi
6. Dortmund
7. Thessaloniki
8. Tel Aviv
9. Ohrid
10. Malta
11. Bergen
12. Gdansk
13. Tenerife
14. Valencia
Interesting that there are no seaside destinations in Croatia. I think DBV could work.
the INI fanboys will hate you
DeleteNis is already bookable
Delete*Niš.
DeleteThis is major news, Wizz Air is apparently shifting their east-west Europe only strategy. Now they are starting flights within western Europe aswell. Interesting times ahead of us.
Delete*Nish
DeleteOr Ниш. Bravo INI. My hometown in the south.
DeleteVIE - Dortmund daily is the most crazy one :D
ReplyDeleteTotally. XD
DeleteThey're playing Schwabe at their own ground, this might be payback for Malev a few years ago. I wish them all the best.
DeleteThey're playing Schwabe at their own field. This might be payback for Malev a few years ago. I wish them all the best.
DeleteMassive slap in the face to Austrian's VIE-DUS/HAM flights.
Deleteslap in the face for VIE-HAM??
Deletesrsly??
Hamburg is 300km away from Dortmund
srsly... can't you type?
DeleteBoth airports have the same catchment area. Many who are not willing to pay €400 to fly on OS to HAM will fly on W6 to DTM.
yes, i can type:
Deletefirstly, Hamburg is a hub and Dortmund is a provincial airport, so no, they do not have the same catchment area.
and more importantly, tickets from Vienna to Hamburg are 400 euros only if u buy one today and would fly tomorrow.
normal price is 150-250 euros, so nobody coming from Vienna would bother to drive 300 km to save 100 euros.
Last but not least A1 and A2 highways which lead to Hamburg can be so congested that even if you would like to save the 100 euros by landing in dortmund instead of Hamburg it wouldn"t be worth it if you're stuck in traffic for hours
Excuse me but when did HAM become a hub and whose hub has it become? Seems like I missed that one.
DeleteMaybe he meant HAJ not HAM which is a bit closer to DTM? But also HAJ is quite far from Dortmund.
DeleteBtw, I think VIEDTM is very smart. Almost 7 million people live in greater Ruhrgebiet area from Munster to Cologne. EW just introduced 1 daily VIEDTM additional to their and Austrian's VIEDUS and VIECGN. There is an enormous influx of rich business passengers on these routes.
Top news and in face to FR! With their INI - BTS flights at Monday and Friday, it will mean that INI will be connected to VIE/BTS 5 times per week, so it might be a future daily destination. I wonder if W6 could play it on A321 here. The return tickets start at 39.98 euros now.
ReplyDeleteAnd, how do you mean they are not coming to Brač? :D
I think they are waiting for A321NEO to arrive before they announce a BWK base. :D
DeleteCitta how much is Wizz paying VIE? In the past they complained how expensive VIE was but now Wizz can offer 40 eur return so there must be a very special deal for Wizz at VIE?
DeleteIt says 8 euros one way for administrative taxes. Since we know it's 3 EUR at INI, it means that they pay 5 EUR/pax at VIE.
DeleteIts new prices at vie airport since beginning of 2018! Not so expensive anymore.
DeleteBWK vs INI or INI vs SKP or INI vs TZL :D
Delete@14:22
DeleteYou do think there is competition to BWK?
I understand talk about EW and EW Europe coming to BWK but not Wizz!
Delete5 eur per passenger in Vienna just for Wizz will make a lot of other arlines at VIE very angry.
DeleteIf they are angry then they should move to BTS. Jajaja
Delete@7:45 PM
DeleteYou must be new. This is a joke about a guy who always leaves a comment that an XY airline should come to Brač because it has potential to all of destinations. :D
First of all well done Wizz. Second it's good to see that these routes will be year round.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree.
DeleteWell done Ini,Tzl,Ohd,Vie.
For those who were always underestimating INI, keep doing it. You will see how, very soon, it will be a major player in ex-YU. I am seeing the gap with SKP is getting narrower in 2018.
ReplyDeleteBRAVO INI!
jos malo pa Frankfurt vodu moze da nosi :)
Delete'major player in ex-yu'?
DeleteSeriously dude? So you expect 2-3 million? C'mon man.
Linija Niš-Beč će biti direktna konkurencija ErSrbiji i Austrijanu iz Beograda. Bit će tesno, Niš će da odvuče sve putnike na ovoj liniji iz južne i centralne Srbije.. Bravo NIŠ.
ReplyDeleteIt is great news for all Serbian flyers!
DeleteJU and OS has been super expensive for flights to VIE.
Thank you W6 and Bravo NIŠ!
INI <3
DeleteI think the bus companies are going to have significant loses. Basically every kind of passengers except the ones who transport beds and bicycles (I've seen that as well) will use air traffic.
ReplyDeleteGiven that, I think there is room for everyone and I think that neither Wizz or Ryan need to withdraw from these route.
Koliko će ova linija iz Niša da utiče na liniju iz Beograda za Beč ?
ReplyDeleteПоприлично али највише ће утицати на линију из Ниша до Братиславе коју обавља Рајанер.
DeleteVise ce da utice ova iz Tuzle na Beograd cini mi se?
DeletePa ne zato sto ne znamo da li ce uopce opstati. Kratke su distance
DeleteWell Wizz is starting Tuzla 7 months before Nis so I don't think they are that affraid that the route will not survive. By the time Nis starts, Tuzla might already take a great deal of pax from western Serbia.
DeleteI see that you are not from Serbia because if you were then you would know that INI is located in the south-east. If TZL is stealing passengers from someone then it's BEG.
DeleteHowever, the flight arrives from VIE quite late so I doubt it will be appealing to many.
Neće puno utpicati, Air Serbia i Austiran nemaju puno point to point putnika, uglavnom su to transferni putnici.
DeleteI don't thinks bro, hell lotta Zerbs in Vienna for p2p travel
DeleteFantastic news for all three cities. Hope Wizz adds some ex-Yu routes soon.
ReplyDeleteFantastic news for Tuzla! This year more than 600,000 passengers for sure. And timing is perfect, just coincides with finalisation of the terminal reconstruction :)
ReplyDeleteAnd as someone says up there, I also saw quite a lot of people from Serbia and Croatia using Tuzla airport every time I flew from there :)
Now these are really bad news for B&H Airlines!
ReplyDeleteOh man I don't know how B&H Airlines will survive this :p
DeleteThey will strike back by launching SJJ-ARN on the Atr.
Deletevia Istanbul to visit their old pals
DeleteI like how those guys from Tuzla are growing without much fuss and confidence like at some other airports in the region. Nobody is coming out with millions of passengers estimates, regional hub theories etc. They even underestimate themselves with predictions of pax numbers year by year. They are either very confused with numbers or humble people. I like that. Wish the entire mentality of exyugos were like that, less dramatic more progressive. So far only Slovenians partly resemble this kind of behaviour.
ReplyDeleteThey are growing without much fuss because they're completely financially unsustainable and dependent on a single airline, not because they're humble.
DeleteYou've totally missed my point, you're just one more of those regional hub-drama guys.
Deleteyoure absolutely right. not like the INI fanboys
DeleteSeems like it's en vogue here to hate and belittle INI.
DeleteDo not worry, the hate on INI is always constant but we got used to it.
DeleteI think the hate is there because despite all the hateful speculation the airport keeps on growing.
Deletelol the hate comes from statements like "will be a major factor in ex-yu"
Deletesedi sine
Have you guys lost your mind? Wow! The level of your craziness is so much bigger than I thought. Apparently nobody here gets my point, all of the sudden it's all about some INI. Jesus Christ...
DeleteI take that only charges levied directly on companies (landing, etc) have been reduced. Those levied on passengers, collected by airlines, have remained the same as far as I can see.
ReplyDelete