Low cost carrier Wizz Air is widening its list of suspended destinations from its bases in the former Yugoslavia for the upcoming winter season which begins on October 30. The airline will halt operations on a further three routes until next summer - from Sarajevo to Saarbruecken, from Belgrade to Hahn and from Skopje to Malta, while services from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital to Copenhagen, as well as from Skopje to Vaxjo, will be temporarily suspended for a month. Wizz Air is facing a shortage of staff, which has in recent weeks affected some its bases in the former Yugoslavia, resulting in the cancellation of a number of flights.
Wizz Air’s Sarajevo base will be hit with the largest number of route suspensions in the former Yugoslavia this winter. Services from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital to Saarbruecken in Germany’s west on the border with France will be suspended just three months on from its launch. The last service of the year between the two cities is scheduled for October 1, while its resumption is expected on March 28, 2023. It becomes the fifth route to be suspended by Wizz from its Sarajevo base this winter, joining the previously reported Charleroi, Sandefjord, Treviso and Beauvais. Furthermore, Wizz has temporarily halted flights from Sarajevo to Copenhagen. Services are expected to resume on October 31.
The budget airline has added a fourth destination to its list of suspended routes from Belgrade this winter with the carrier to pause operations to Hahn. The last flight between the two cities in 2022 is scheduled for September 29, with services set to resume on March 28 of next year. As previously reported, the airline is also suspending flights from Belgrade to Vaxjo, Sandefjord and Billund over the winter. Similarly in Skopje, Wizz is widening its number of suspended routes to four with services to Malta to be halted from October 29 until March 29, 2023. It joins Turin, Billund and Turku which are also being paused over the winter. Furthermore, Wizz Air will temporarily suspend flights from the Macedonian capital to Vaxjo from October 2 until November 2.
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Is Sarajevo market so seasonal? I mean turning 7 routes to sumner only is a bit excessive.
ReplyDeleteGasto heavy market. No surprise
DeleteSKP is gasto heavy too but it can sustain flights to Paris in winter.
DeleteSeems airlines can do what they want. Same as Ryanair in Zagreb.
DeleteGothenburg,Malmo and Stockholm are still bookable on the Wizzair webiste. They even increased frequncies in December.
Deletepardon gents, wtf is a gasto market?
DeleteDiaspora market.
Deletethanks frishki! and why gasto?
DeleteShort from gastarbajter.
DeleteThey have lost the plot
ReplyDeleteYou mean a pilot?
DeleteSeems like they've lost a few of those too.
DeleteWizz is focusing too much on Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.
ReplyDeleteNot sure. They are canceling 50% of the flights between Belgrade and Abu Dhabi. So many angry, affected passengers.
DeleteAgain probably because not enough staff. I know some crew from Belgrade base that are being sent to Abu Dhabi to do flights.
DeleteI'm sorry, where did you get that they are cancelling 50% of flights between Belgrade and Abu Dhabi? From what I see they have 4 weekly flights this winter which is the same as summer.
Delete@10,22
DeleteWizz are infamous for their last minute cancelations on the AUH-BEG route, that is if the flight isn't delayed for a few hours. They've had problems with on time performance on the route for months.
What's worse these flights are packed. A lot of Indian passengers on them.
DeleteTime for JU to reconsider Dubai or AUH.
DeleteI know a lot of people from Dubai catching those Wizz flights from Abu Dhabi to Belgrade because they are so much cheaper compared to Flydubai which now has even more inflated prices due to Russians travelling on this route. Good thing is Wizz introduced a shuttle between AUH and Dubai.
DeleteSaarbruecken always was a weird choice.
ReplyDeleteFrom Saarbruecken we have seen a LF of about 80% over the first weeks. Then there was a series of cancellations from Wizz, since the turnaround in Eindhoven took sometimes up to 4 hours. The flights to Saarbruecken have therefore been cancelled short-term. In my view, the problem is not Saarbruecken, it's Wizz!
DeleteGood to know. Thanks for the feedback.
DeleteNot good
ReplyDeleteI hope this is temporary and they sort out their issues.
ReplyDeleteTheir reputation has gone down the toilet lately.
DeleteWizz being Wizz
ReplyDeleteIt seems that biggest problem is at EX-YU bases, since that from December Wizz increasing Niš and Podgorica from Vienna, when new A321neo arrives in that base
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem is lack of staff. They are yanking crew from EX-YU bases to work at other bases and then they don't have enough people.
DeleteMakes sense. Probably to fill lack of people in western bases while paying them local Balkan salaries.
DeleteI have a flight booked with them for December. Purchased it a month ago and they have already changed my day of departure 3 times.
ReplyDeleteAt least they didn't cancel it.
DeleteDon't speak too soon.
DeleteThey have become a completely unreliable airline
DeleteThis summer has been a disaster for them in terms of reliability and punctuality.
DeleteNone of the LCCs have been reliable. Mind you, many flag carriers too.
DeleteHad my SJJ to CPH flight changed from 6am to about 8pm which ruins my plans, luckily hit my refund relatively quick. Think it might be easier getting a bus to ZAG and flying Ryanair than with Wheeze.
DeleteI must say they are quick with the refunds.
DeleteWhat a surprise...
ReplyDeleteThis just proves why government backed flag carriers are essential!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWizz is still much needed at many ex-Yu airports. Where would Tuzla, Ohrid and Skopje be without them?
DeleteCorrect. They have done a lot to increase traffic and develop ex-Yu airports.
DeleteStaffing is an issue hence the random 1 month suspensions.
ReplyDeleteThey got rid of 20% of their staff during the pandemic. What did they expect?
ReplyDeleteGood thing Tuzla has started working with Ryanair and is ending reliance on Wizz.
ReplyDeleteThey had terrible flying times HHN-BEG. Arriving at 01:50h in BEG.
ReplyDeleteAnd when you factor in the delays, usually around 3AM.
DeleteEach day some new cancellation by Wizz.
ReplyDeleteit's not their fault according to Varadi haha.
DeleteMore to come
ReplyDeleteHope not.
DeleteThis company will collapse sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteBased on what exactly? A few suspended flights?
DeleteBased on their financial performance.
DeleteThey will probably eventually merge with Easyjet so both can avoid bankruptcy.
DeleteI can't believe that Ljubljana has, for once, avoided cancellation :D
ReplyDeleteWell they have just two routes.
DeleteWinter season is still more than a month away. There is still time...
DeleteWhat are their best performing routes from BEG?
ReplyDeleteWhich is?
DeleteIt seems that in Q1 it was Basel
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/08/belgrade-airport-handles-over-700000.html
^ Unlikely. Don't forget Basel is also served by easyjet.
DeleteAh yes, that's right. Forgot about them.
DeleteWeirdly enough, their best performing route is London Luton.
DeleteStrange that all Swedish destanations are made seasonal from SJJ considering the large Bosnian diaspora in Sweden. From Tuzla only Vaxjo is seasonal.While SJJ suspended Stockholm, Raynair will start on 2 november flights between Tuzla and Stockholm-Arlanda while Wizzair already has Stockholm-Skvasta from. It seems like Wizzair needed to make a choice between suspending routes from Sarajevo or Tuzla. And I think they chose Tuzla because it's the most important Wizzair hub in Bosnia.
ReplyDeleteTrue. It will be interesting to see how Wizz balances with its dual hub in Bosnia.
DeleteHope all the routes are eventually restored.
ReplyDeleteThey will
DeleteThey need better internal planning.
ReplyDeleteOne of the issues I think they could have in Belgrade is that their entire fleet there is made up of A321s. This could be a problem to fill on some routes in winter time.
ReplyDeleteCould be. These birds have 230 seats.
DeleteThey were planning last year to add A320, which I think that would be great, but that didn't happen
DeleteUnsustainable route planning
ReplyDeleteWhat's going on with Wizz Air. Why are they cutting so many routes across their network this winter?
ReplyDeleteThey need planes for markets with higher demand and higher ticket prices. Their SKP network has probably witnessed the largest reductions and in their network. No clear reason why the Turks at TAV not start looking for alternative airlines. Sounds very fishy having a carrier with 80% market share in 1 airport.
ReplyDeleteTAV has done literally nothing to attract anyone to SKP. The few airlines that launched flights did so on their own.
DeleteImagine if this was one of the ex-Yu flag carriers suspending routes left and right. All hell would break loose.
ReplyDeleteThey launched too many routes in the immediate aftermath of Covid.
ReplyDeleteShame
ReplyDeleteGive us new routes Wizz!
ReplyDeleteThey can't even keep the ones they have.
DeleteThey are introducing some new ones this winter
DeleteFor now they are introducing 1 new route this winter: Luton - Podgorica.
That's just a replacement for Gatwick
DeleteThey're introducing many new routes, but not in the impoverished part of the Balkans. Many of you fail to realize how poor and insignificant this part of the world is. Why would the send their aircraft here when they can easily be sent to work to Italy or even Romania. Skopje is like the second saddest capital in Europe after Chisinau.
DeleteSkopje is quite nice city in my opinion not that bad. Unfortunatly it has not much historical buildings. The old bazaar, park and center are nice.Also it has nice atmosphere and a good work/life balance. It's defenitly not the most beautiful city, but I wouldn't call it sad.There are defenitly cities that have more things to see than Skopje but at the same time are more sad.
DeleteAnonymous17:48
Delete" Many of you fail to realize how poor and insignificant this part of the world is."
Well the whole world existence would still be jumping from the Lianas if not for 4 Scientist from the Balkans: Tesla, Pupin, Rudjer Boskovic, Mlankovic (Milankovic cycles) So Balkans are very rich but different kind of richness LOL
Most likely Wizz is on the ropes and preparing consolidation and buy out, merger with another Airline. Many Airlines are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
^ +1 fully agree with Boris.
Delete@Boris, my man, living in the past is a characteristic of impoverished and dwindling nations, which is why we in the Balkans do it best. Good that all those guys you've mentioned were born in our neck of the woods, but that bit of trivia alone won't make his highness mister Varadi any money now, will it? Hence my statement, there just simply isn't much money to be made here, so they're scraping the bottom of the barrel indeed, and sometimes the cost of doing even that is too high. Logical conclusion - send the equipment and the staff to your VIE, MXP or OTP base. ai'd do the same if I had just lost 450 mil. in one quarter.
Delete@Anonymous 17:48 I've traveled to many countries, and my impression as a tourist is often similar - nice place to spend 3 days of your life and 1000€, but living here probably sucks. Skopje is fun, absolutely, when you go once and never have to go back again. Just like Pristina, Chisinau, Tiraspol and even Minsk. But I was talking about how sad life is in general, the poverty and the general quality of life (or lack thereof). Source: I'm from there, I guess I know a bit better.
Smth is very wrong with Wizz.
ReplyDeleteNow they are reducing even profitable routes!
For instance I fly regularly VIE-PRN. Flights are always loaded fully. Now from 4-5 flights year round, they reduced to 1-2weekly!
Makes no sense!
I hope they dont go bankrupt. Austrian is a cruel profiteer.
There is nothing wrong with Wizzair in this case. At the moment they have 3 frequencies from VIE-PRN they will reduce in November to 2 frequencies due to lower demand in this month.In December they will increase again to 3 frequencies till the end of March 2023. In the begin of April when demand is again really high they will have 5 frequencies from VIE-PRN until the end of October 2023. This is very usual for Wizzair to change often frequncies. They do it from all their bases.
DeleteWhat a surprise. They are constantly playing with their network. No point in buying tickets in advanced with this airline.
ReplyDeleteAgree. They seem to be introducing and suspending routes near constantly.
DeleteLots of extremely unidirectional routes :)
ReplyDeleteTransportation will be reorganized because society will be reorganized, businesses will be reorganized and etc.. At this moment the airlines are operating in the old business model hence all these disruptions. "Lack of staff" excuses are just that - excuses. Human Mind likes some explanations no matter how ridiculous they are.
Shame about Skopje-Malta. Could Ryanair's Nis-Malta fought have anything to do with that? Those continue during winter.
ReplyDelete*flight
DeleteSeems like Nis-Malta FR flights are doing really well. Planes full to the last seat from what I hear, and tickets not so cheap unless booked months in advance. This is despite the fact that Wizz has flights to Malta from BEG, SOF and SKP
DeleteThe Macedonian diaspora in Malta does travel year round indeed, but there simply isn't enough demand to maintain the route year round. During the summer many people go to Malta either looking for a seasonal job, or just to crash with their relatives who work there and make a 10-day vacation out of it. This doesn't warrant winter flights to MLA.
DeleteThey just announced a bunch of new flights from Rome.
ReplyDeleteNone to ex-Yu might I add
DeleteAlso new routes from London and Athens.
DeleteYep, they are launching TIA-ATH.
DeleteMight have something to do with their 450 million EUR loss this year.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air needs to get a grip.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the basic Wizz salary for Balkan cabin crew employees? Seems to be a state secret. Wizz won't publish it (in job postings) and employees are either secretive or ashamed.
ReplyDelete