Wizz Air to base third jet in Belgrade, launch ten new routes

Budget carrier Wizz Air will base its third aircraft in Belgrade and launch ten new routes from the Serbian capital this July. The carrier’s CEO, Jozsef Varadi, announced the airline would commence operations from Belgrade to Barcelona, Charleroi, Cologne, Friedrichshafen, Hamburg, Lisbon, Milan Malpensa, Turku and Sandefjord, complementing its new service to Salzburg which was previously unveiled for July 2. All will run twice per week except Hamburg, Cologne and Friedrichshafen which will operate three times per week. Furthermore, all the aircraft at the Belgrade base will be upgraded to the 230-seat Airbus A321 jets from the 180-seat A320s. The line-up of destinations marks Wizz Air’s return to certain markets previously served by the airline from Belgrade, including Charleroi, Friedrichshafen and Sandefjord near Oslo. The airline will compete directly against Air Serbia and Vueling on services to Barcelona and with the Serbian flag carrier on flights to Milan. The new routes will also see Belgrade linked with Lisbon five years after TAP discontinued the service, while Hamburg will be reinstated after Air Serbia shelved its flights to the German city at the end of the 2019 summer season.

As previously reported, Wizz Air is significantly expanding its operations across Europe, with some 140 new routes scheduled to launch so far until the end of the year. The airline was the first to resume operations from the Serbian capital following the height of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, on May 18, and has since reinstated the majority of its Belgrade network, with the final two routes set to be reintroduced at the start of next month.

Destination	Launch date
Salzburg	JUL 02
Friedrichshafen	JUL 16
Hamburg, Cologne, Turku	JUL 17
Lisbon, Barcelona, Milan, Sandefjord	JUL 18
Charleroi	JUL 19

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Wizz Air has seen its passenger numbers increase in Serbia during 2019 despite limited network growth throughout the year. The budget airline handled over 895.000 travellers on flights to and from Belgrade and Niš, representing an increase of 11.9% on 2018. It added over 95.000 passengers. The airline held an 11% passenger share in the country and was the busiest low cost carrier in Serbia in 2019 with over 50% of the market, well ahead of Ryanair in second place and easyJet in third. Furthermore, it was the second busiest airline in the country overall, behind only Air Serbia but ahead of Lufthansa. In January, Wizz Air carried its five-millionth passengers from Serbia since launching services to the country in 2010. In 2020, Wizz Air expects to hold a 15% market share in Serbia.