Wizz Air opens its first UK base at London Luton

RNS Number : 7982I

Wizz Air Holdings PLC

22 June 2017

 

WIZZ AIR OPENS ITS FIRST UK BASE AT LONDON LUTON

AIRLINE CELEBRATES CARRYING 30 MILLION PASSENGERS ON LONDON LUTON ROUTES AND LAUNCHES FLIGHTS TO THREE EXCITING NEW DESTINATIONS

London, 22 June 2017: Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, will today open its first UK base at London Luton Airport. WIZZ will base one of its new Airbus A320 aircraft at the airport, increasing operations to 42 routes from Luton, including three new services to Tel Aviv, Pristina and Kutaisi.

WIZZ is also delighted to celebrate carrying 30 million passengers on its low-fare routes from London Luton. One lucky passenger travelling from Varna, Bulgaria was greeted upon their arrival at London Luton with a complimentary WIZZ return ticket in honour of the occasion.

To celebrate these important milestones, WIZZ is pleased to offer a Special Seat Sale to its UK customers, slashing 20%^* off flights on all 82 routes in its UK network up until midnight today, Thursday 22 June.

The base establishment at London Luton represents a major investment in the UK by WIZZ, creating 36 direct jobs with the airline. Wizz Air's local crew is trained to the highest standards and Wizz Air's fleet is one of the youngest in Europe, ensuring a high-quality customer experience on every flight. The new base aircraft will support the start of operations of three new long awaited routes from London Luton: Tel Aviv in Israel; Pristina in Kosovo; and Kutaisi in Georgia, which is the only direct connection between Kutaisi and the UK. Frequencies on some of WIZZ's most popular routes to Romania will also increase with the arrival of the new aircraft: Suceava will run five times per week; Constanta four times per week; and Iasi flights will now operate daily.

WIZZ AIR'S NEWEST ROUTES COMMENCING FROM LONDON LUTON

Destination	Days	Starts	Fares from*
Kutaisi, Georgia	Thursday, Sunday	18 June 2017	GBP 23.99
Tel Aviv, Israel	Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday	24 June 2017	GBP 97.99
Prishtina, Kosovo	Tuesday, Saturday	24 June 2017	GBP 30.49

Commitment to London Luton

In 2016 WIZZ carried more than 5 million passengers on its London Luton routes, making WIZZ the second largest operator at the airport. In 2017 Wizz Air will have almost 6.3 million seats on sale on its London Luton routes, representing 13% growth year on year.

Commitment to UK

Wizz Air's first flight in May 2004 was from Katowice to London Luton. Today WIZZ's UK network consists of 82 routes to 42 destinations from 9 airports. In 2016, Wizz Air carried more than 6.6 million passengers on its low-fare UK routes, representing 30% growth year on year and  supporting almost 5,000^** local jobs in associated industries. Since the beginning of operations more than 35 million passengers have chosen to travel with WIZZ, taking advantage of its low fares from the UK to Central and Eastern Europe.

Seats on the new routes are already on sale and can be booked from just GBP 23.99^* at wizzair.com.

Owain Jones, Chief Corporate Officer at Wizz Air said: "We are proud to celebrate the opening of the first WIZZ base in the United Kingdom at London Luton Airport. Wizz Air's very first flight in 2004 was to London Luton and, since then, we have carried 30 million passengers on our low fare routes from the airport, stimulating the local tourism and aviation industries while strengthening business partnerships between the UK and CEE. Our new base operations at London Luton Airport will create a number of local jobs with WIZZ and the new destinations added to the network mean even greater choice for WIZZ's UK passengers with 42 popular routes to 18 countries operating from London Luton and ever more opportunities to discover Europe on WIZZ's low fare routes. Our fantastic crew will ensure an excellent travel experience for each passenger traveling with WIZZ on board one of Europe's youngest fleets."

About Wizz Air

Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, operates a fleet of 83 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 aircraft, and offers more than 500 routes from 28 bases, connecting 141 destinations across 42 countries. At Wizz Air, a team of approximately 3,300 aviation professionals delivers superior service and very low ticket prices making Wizz Air the preferred choice of 23.8 million passengers in the financial year ended 31 March 2017. Wizz Air is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker WIZZ and is included in the FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share Indices. Wizz Air is registered under the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), the global benchmark in airline safety recognition. The company was recently named 2016 Value Airline of the Year by the editors of Air Transport World, one of the leading airline trade magazines, as well as 2016 Low Cost Airline of the Year by the Center for Aviation (CAPA), a leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence.

For more information:

Sorina Ratz; Wizz Air Group; [e-mail]

Laura Vaughan; FTI Consulting; [e-mail]; [phone]

* Before discount, one way including all taxes and non-optional charges

** Airports Council International (ACI) suggests creation of 750 on-site jobs for every 1 million carried passengers per year 

Follow us on Twitter: @wizzair

Notes for Editors:

·      All flights operated on Airbus A320 aircraft, with 180 seats and A321 aircraft with 230 seats

·      New Airbus A321 deliveries started in November 2015

·      For free pictures of aircraft, crews and logo library please visit http://wizzair.com/en-GB/press

 

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