Major expansion for Wizz Air at Luton Airport
Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, has announced a massive expansion at its Luton base, with the addition of four Airbus A320 aircraft to its Luton fleet by June 2018.
The allocation of four more Airbus A320 aircraft, each equipped with 186 seats, brings the total number of aircraft in Wizz Air’s Luton fleet to five, continuing the budget carrier’s phenomenal growth story in the UK. The move also sees the airline securing all the take-off and landing slots at Luton airport that belonged to the now defunct Monarch Airlines.
Over the past 12 months (to 31 October 2017) the Hungary-based airline has carried more than 5.5 million passengers on its Luton routes alone, an increase of 11 per cent compared to 2016, making it the second largest carrier at Luton airport. The airline is expanding its capacity at Luton by 15 per cent year-on-year, and in 2018 will offer more than 6.9 million seats on its 46 routes to 20 countries.
As a result of the significant expansion, Wizz will offer five new routes to UK travellers, with daily flights to Larnaca in Cyprus and Bratislava in Slovakia; four flights per week to Tallinn in Estonia; and three flights per week to Tirana in Albania and Lviv in Ukraine.
Increased services
The additional aircraft will also allow the carrier to increase the frequency of flights on three of its most popular routes. Starting in spring 2018 flights to Tel Aviv and Suceava will become daily, and flights to Prishtina will increase from two to three per week.
Owain Jones, chief corporate officer at Wizz Air, said: “We are thrilled that only five months on from opening our base in Luton, we’re announcing a massive expansion by allocating four additional aircraft Airbus A320 to our Luton fleet.
“Our investment brings benefits to the local community by creating 150 new direct jobs, as well as stimulating more jobs market in aviation and related industries.”
Nick Barton, chief executive officer at London Luton Airport (LLA), said: “The announcement that Wizz Air is expanding its operation at LLA is great news for passengers, the airport and the local economy.
“Our redevelopment is focused on creating an even better experience for more passengers and that includes increasing our choice of destinations. We look forward to building on our already strong relationship with Wizz, as we deliver a bigger, better LLA.”
