WIZZ AIR BULLISH ABOUT GCC PROSPECTS

WIZZ AIR CEO Joszef Varadi has revealed ambitious plans for the low-cost carrier’s GCC operations.

“If you look at what we’ve been able to achieve in the EU, we managed to grow our fleet to 100 aircraft over the last 15 years and we should be able to do the same thing in Abu Dhabi,” he told the online audience during ATM Virtual ( June 1-3).

“You should be looking at our platform, not necessarily just Abu Dhabi; we want to serve the UAE and possibly the broader GCC markets.”

Wizz Air flew 40 million passengers to 151 airports in 44 countries on 710 routes last year. It has a young fleet of 120

Airbus aircraft with an option to buy a further 20 Airbus A321XLR aircraft, the most cost-efficient aircraft of its type.

The airline plans to launch five routes from Abu Dhabi this year – Budapest in Hungary, Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca in Romania, Katowice in Poland and Sofia in Bulgaria.

Varadi also suggested that the aircraft environment was safer than most other indoor spaces in terms of contracting COVID-19.

“There is no scientific evidence to suggest any passengers have contracted the virus while flying. In fact, the air filtration onboard aircraft is comparable with an intensive care unit,” he said. “However, I do support wearing masks, hand sanitising, disinfecting and reducing the amount of high-touch points such as cash payments for onboard catering and in-flight magazines.”