Wizz Air plans to start growing operations out of its bases in Skopje and Belgrade next year after being forced to reduce capacity and operations in 2024 due to defects in the Pratt and Whitney geared turbofan engines that power some Airbus A320neo-family aircraft, which is impacting the entire industry. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Silvia Mosquera, Wizz Air’s Executive Vice President and Group Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Currently we have around 20% of our fleet on the ground. We are expecting for the inspection to take between eighteen and 24 months, however, for next year, there will be less of an impact as some of the engines will come back from the shops so I think that next year we will see growth from Wizz Air”.
Commenting on its operations in the former Yugoslav markets, Ms Mosquera said, “The Western Balkans are a very relevant market for us. Our intention is to further grow in the region, but not this year due to the engines. But for next year our intention is to continue growing”. Referring to recent reports by local media that the carrier is negotiating with Tuzla Airport’s management over the potential reopening of its base in the city, which was shut last December, the CCO noted, “It is not true. We are not going to reopen the Tuzla base. There is no official communication because there is no intention of reopening Tuzla”.
Despite being the largest carrier in Pristina by the number of passengers handled, Ms Mosquera said there are currently no plans to open a base in the city. Furthermore, commenting on the Croatian market where Ryanair dominates with three bases, Ms Mosquera said, “It is a question of our strategy. Every airline has its own and for us Croatia is an important market but as a destination. We have flights to Dubrovnik and Split but we don’t have a base there, I don’t know if that will change in the future but for now the relevance of this market for us is simply as a destination”.
Would have been ludicrous that they were considering reopening Tuzla less than a year they closed it.
ReplyDeleteNothing is ludicrous if there is money and profit.
DeleteThe thing is there's no profit there lol
DeleteThats true as well
DeleteThey still fly from TZL, just not as a base airport so it's all possible with money
DeleteI'm sure they will be opening new routes nest year.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they will announce new routes. Whether they operate them or not is a separate story.
DeleteThat is the Wizz way after all :D
DeleteHow do you mean whether they ...
Delete^ during the pandemic they became well known of announcing new routes and never actually launching them.
Deletepandemic you said it
Delete'How do you mean whether they ...'
DeleteSee SKP-LUX and SKP-STR routes as perfect examples. I'm not even going to mention Middle Eastern routes that were announced by Wizz Air but never commenced.
SKP-AUH was announced by Minister not Wizz.
DeleteLUX was launched... they discontinued it in the same way they did with SZG during pandemic. SZG is back
DeleteLUX and STR must be launched once they are in better situation with this problem. They got subsidies for them and the routes must return, otherwise the subsidies will stop.
Deletethere is no must. They can launch it anytime during the period for which support was approved
DeleteWow those inspections are going to take a very long time.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much Pratt and Whitney had to pay Wizz.
DeleteIn SKP they really don't need to worry. With 60%-70% market share and almost no direct competitor they can take their time.
ReplyDeleteRyanair entering the market would really shake them up
DeleteFR is focused on the battle for TIA.
DeleteSame all, same all, Wizz needs competition from Ryanair....
DeleteUnfortunate they could not grow this year in BEG.
ReplyDeleteWhat other routes could they add from BEG?
DeleteVienna / Bratislava, Prague, Tenerife, Seville, Ibiza, Alicante...
DeleteVienna would be fantastic. Considering the success of Spain they could really consider the destinations annon mentioned above.
DeleteManchester, Glasgow, Dublin, Bremen, Helsinki, Bergen, Gdansk/Lodz…
DeleteTFS would be a nice addition somewhere down the line.
DeleteDon't see it happening with JU and DY thriving out of OSL.
DeleteDidn't they fly TFS-BEG once upon a time?
DeleteBergen? For whom?
DeleteThey have never flown BEG-TFS.
DeleteBegen has significant exyu diaspora
DeleteAthens, Vienna
DeleteWizz Air could fly to many places where Air Serbia has no or only a small presence.
DeleteMadrid, Malaga, Palma,Naples, Palermo, Catania, Vienna,Brussels-Charleroi, Manchester,Bremen.
They also could bring back Hanover.
I think Ju has good coverage of PMI.
DeleteWhat happened to SJJ routes, when will those happen as they confirmed Italy
ReplyDeleteThey have not confirmed anything relating to Italy.
DeleteHopefully they bring back Luton and Brussels from Ljubljana
ReplyDeleteWhy did they retreat so much from Ljubljana :(
DeleteAll LCCs have retreated from LJU.
DeleteAnd that's why people fly from alternative airports in other countries
DeleteAnd that has only started to happen once Wizz stopped flying from LJU.
DeleteHahahhaha
DeleteNo, they did it before too. Share will now increase even further.
DeleteLJU is far from LCC haven :) but not all retreated. Only Wizz actually completely retreated. Transavia on the other hand is slowly growing its presence.
DeleteEasyjet has decimated it presence in LJU since pandemic.
Deletehow did Wizz retreated?
DeleteThey no longer fly to London or Charleroi which they flew to for years.
Deletethey do fly to Skopje
DeleteSo, no one actually retreated. Reducing doesn’t mean retreating (withdrawing).
DeleteAnd Luton flight atleast few ones that i was on were pretty full about 90% I would say. But I dont know about Charleroi
DeleteWhy is nobody talking how expensive they've become, even before engine issues. They're charging almost as same as legacy carriers, yet they become very unreliable...
ReplyDeleteEspecially their seat reservations and luggage fees...i paid 81£ for a suitcase reciently..
Deletethst not unusual for summer and also depends on the route. Do i approve it? no but thats their game
DeleteI havent noticed them becoming so expensive. All of my flights with them have been between 10-50 euros since last summer until now.
DeleteI know Ryanair is competition in ZAG to Wizz, but why they don't compete against FlyDubai and Qatar? They can surely compete against Croatia Airlines (Stockholm, Copenhagen for example?) on some routes or fly to other destinations out of ZAG that Ryanair is not flying to? Am I completely wrong or?
ReplyDeleteRyanair were given subsidies to start new routes out of Zagreb which weren't being served by anyone else. Stop the subsidies, Ryanair will be straight off. That's their business model.
DeleteIt is not a subsidy, it is a discount.
DeletePratt & Whitney engine problems seem to be causing headaches for many airlines
ReplyDeleteAre the engine issues only on aircraft already delivered?
DeleteYes
DeleteAll the airlines using that type of plane are affected.
DeleteObviously those with more neo planes are more affected
DeleteFor me the most shocking part of this story is that Wizz Air is down to just two bases in the region: BEG and SKP. Goes to show how purchasing power remains weak in the region.
ReplyDeletenot really. Croatia and Slovenia are expensive for them to open a base plus HR is a seasonal market that why they refer to Croatia only as "destination"
DeleteIt actually shows the opposite of what you wrote @09:45
DeleteI see that W6 disproportionally cuts flights from airports in our region compared to the rest of Europe.
ReplyDeleteWell the majority of their network is in Eastern Europe...
DeleteYes but they don't seem to be cutting BUD, TIA, Poland, OTP as much.
DeleteThey have cut a lot in Poland and Romania. They even cut some routes from Tirana.
DeleteTheir growth is still huge, compared to 2019.
DeleteThey are growing in TIA, they will have 13 planes there as of July and now they have 11.
Deletethey must if they want to win the battle. otherwise Vienna scenario
DeleteActually SKP and BEG are not the most affected by this. In KUT they are down two planes, they have 3 A320 and last summer they had 5 A321neo, NAP, VCE, CRA, SBU, VAR, are all operating with one instead of two jets, same with WRO. VNO, KTW, KRK, MXP, LCA, IAS, CLJ, TSR, LGW, FCO, VIE, AUH, are all down one plane as well just like SKP and BEG. CTA is down two planes, they had four and now they have two. TIA, LTN, WAW, OTP and BUD are not affected i think.
DeleteThis is the risk with the new tech
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see what they do next summer and whether they will grow BEG further with fifth plane
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed
DeleteAll the best to Wizz. Wish them success so they can add new routes next year.
ReplyDeleteI’m sure Wizz will look to launch to some of the already stated places like more destinations in Spain, Portugal etc.. but be great if they added places Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan. I think they could do well with Georgia as its growing in popularity, not sure the others from Belgrade but I for sure would fly them.
ReplyDeletenone of them are possible. they can only launch EU destinations. same for Skopje
DeleteSo does she tell anything specefic for the growth in SKP and BEG in 2025 admin ?
ReplyDeleteShe doesnt
Deletethats a harsh "no" for TZL
ReplyDeleteNoticed that too
DeleteSo yet another false statement by the director of Tuzla airport lol. I mean, I didn't believe they would reopen their base there, but it's disgusting how they trick people into it, so they can get away with wasting money on Lumiwings.
ReplyDeleteBNX and TZL airport directors are something else
DeleteWell.. irrelevant people running airport and the results we can see is that BNX is stagnant and about to go down. Meanwhile TZL is not going to recover from this anytime soon.. or at all
DeleteCrazy
DeleteWhat routes could they launch from SKP? Maybe they can return BCN and LCA. I hope we wont get another German routes.
ReplyDeleteStuttgart, Verona, Luxembourg and Leipzig ;) (gasto rules!)
DeleteIf I was Wizz I would launch PRG because its the same target group as LJU which is doing fine and maybe a second UK destination
Same target group? Are there many Macedonians living in Prague?
Deleteyes but not as many as in SLO obviously, there are lots of students in CZ as well..
Deleteits the same urban demographics that this route would attract. With BUD and LJU flights working dont see why PRG shouldnt.
Verona will be a good addition, but if they choose something in Italy then Turin is better, also Naples or Catania. If there are direct flights to Catania then people will
Deletesuddenly start to go there on a leisure holiday. Thats the power of LCC, creating a demand which wasnt there before.
UK flights are limited now cause they are not in EU and there is less demand, although the flights are always full still tjey dont increase them. I remember in 2019 this route used to ne operated five times per week and from SKP base back then.
But LJU is also rout for tourists, at least in LJU and around Slovenia there are lots of mostly younger tourists from Macedonia lately. That’s fantastic. I don’t know how is with Slovenians visiting Macedonia.
DeletePRG is also a tourist place, one of the best in Europe actually.
DeleteWizz Air to return to growth in 2021...2022...2023...2024...2025?
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly are you talking about? Wizz Air has been growing in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In fact it was the fastest growing airline in Europe during that time.
DeleteAnd this year they would be the fastest growing airline too , but the engines troubles stop their way ....and for sure if 2025 is year without problems , they would make great achievements for sure.
DeleteWizz was not the fastest growing airline in Europe in any of those years.
DeleteWould be nice they start Prague,Barcelona,Stuttgart,Dusseldorf,Leipzig,London Gatwick or Stansted from SKP ...maybe some italian places too
ReplyDeleteWhy Dusseldorf and Stuttgart? So that you have more options to come here in Skopje whenever you want?
DeleteMacedonian diaspora is very huge in Dusseldorf .... and they dont direct flight to SKP , not me , I live across the ocean , I have cousins in Germany. SKP is gasto airport like all Ex-yu, don't expect exotic sunny destinations.
DeleteDUS is Eurowings material but how to convince them
Delete