Wizz Air Abu Dhabi launch fleet will be significantly larger than planned

Today it was announced that European airline empire Wizz Air's new Middle Eastern subsidiary, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, will be beginning operations later this year with twice as many aircraft as originally planned. The new carriers launch date is firmly set for later this year.

A Wizz Air A321 departs Malaga Spain. Photo by Jero Vida | AeroNewsX

Since beginning operations in September 2003, Wizz Air has taken the European airline market by storm, originally starting operations between Hungary and Poland, but now after having undergone a massive expansion over the past ten years, Wizz Air now serves over 500 routes to 44 countries throughout Europe and Asia with crew bases in 16 different countries with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe, which before Wizz Air, was massively underserved by low-cost carriers. In early-2020, the airline announced it was taking the next big step in its expansion with the launch of a new United Arab Emirates-based subsidiary, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.

The new Wizz Air subsidiary first unveiled its initial route map on May 4th 2020, with the announcement of flights between Abu Dhabi and Budapest, Bucharest, Katowice, Sofia and Cluj-Napoca. CEO Jozef Varadi stated that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion is going ahead as originally planned.

However today, Varadi also added that the new subsidiary would be twice as large as originally planned with the airline now looking to begin operations with "a six aircraft fleet for the first six months of operation." The initial fleet of aircraft will consist solely of European-made Airbus A320 aircraft. The new Middle-eastern subsidiary is a joint venture between Wizz Air and the Abu Dhabi State Holding Company (ADQ).

Despite the bleak outlook for the airline industry in 2020, Wizz Air CEO Jozef Varadi remains extremely confident about the success of the Abu Dhabi subsidiary and was today quoted saying: "Wizz Air Hungary was able to make it to over 100 aircraft in 15 years and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will also make it to 100 aircraft in 15 years, if not more." The new routes from Abu Dhabi are now available for booking through the Wizz Air website.