Wizz Air sees opportunities and level playing field in Belgrade

Wizz Air will base its fourth aircraft in Belgrade this summer, launch five new routes and increase frequencies on existing popular services. The carrier’s Acting Network Officer, Evelin Jeckel, spoke to EX-YU Aviation News about the airline’s upcoming expansion and operations on the Serbian market. “In Serbia we still mostly see diaspora, but I would say there is a growing trend in leisure destinations. If you look at the routes that we have introduced, for example Zakynthos, that’s clearly a leisure destination. We are looking at covering both as much as we can. I think it’s an evolution but clearly the trend is going more towards leisure but still the bulk of it is VFR [visiting friends and family]”.

Commenting on its competition with Air Serbia, which swiftly reacted to Wizz Air’s latest Belgrade expansion by increasing frequencies on competing routes, Ms Jeckel said, “Competition from Air Serbia does not impact us that much because our cost base is much lower, so we are happy with the set-up and competition is always good. It keeps us on our toes, and it is an upside for customers because they have greater choice. Overall, when I saw Air Serbia’s reaction and frequency increases, I thought to myself - we chose the right routes - and that was very clear. I was happy with that. We are always happy to compete. As long the cost base is low it’s always fine to compete”.

Ms Jeckel explained that the new routes being introduced in late July and early August could not be launched earlier due to constraints relating to the delivery of new aircraft. “The start date is driven by our aircraft deliveries. Overall, from my perspective, I would have loved to have started earlier than that, but simply we must plan based on when we get the aircraft”. During the 2023 summer season, Wizz Air will serve 28 routes from the Serbian capital. The carrier currently counts 120 employees in the country and has handled over six million passengers on its flights since launching operations out of Belgrade in 2010.

Under a decade ago, Wizz Air noted that Belgrade Airport had become the most expensive in its destination network, while in late 2018, just before VINCI took over as concessionaire, the carrier’s CEO, Jozsef Varadi, told EX-YU Aviation News, “I think the significant issue in Belgrade that has hindered our development there is the cost of the airport relative to its peers. It is a high price airport, and we need to see costs coming down. We will see what VINCI brings to the table”. Four years later, Ms Jeckel notes relations have significantly improved. “We have a very good relationship with the airport now. With the charges scheme that they have now, they have created a level playing field as much as possible and we are very happy with their support and our relationship with them overall. I have no complaints at the moment”, Ms Jeckel said.

Evelin Jeckel, Wizz Air's Acting Network Officer

Wizz Air’s Network Officer noted that the airline did not expand in Belgrade over the past few years as much as some neighbouring markets due to new opportunities opening up as a result of the pandemic. “During Covid, we used the opportunity to expand in places like Abu Dhabi, massively in Italy, as well as Albania, where we didn’t have an entry point before. That’s where our capacity went, and we spread ourselves very thin in some other markets. Traffic was down, so we could allow ourselves to do that. We took out frequencies and aircraft and put them elsewhere. This is how we grew the network during Covid. This is nothing to do with the potential of the market rather that we had a window of opportunity in other markets and that’s where we used the capacity. What the company is trying to do now is densify its operations. This is the outcome of what you see in Belgrade - adding the extra aircraft. We are now backfilling a lot of capacity and increasing a lot of capacity in some of our existing core markets”.