Wizz Air

Infobox Airline
airline = Wizz Air

logo_size = 220
fleet_size = 19 (+80 orders)
destinations = 32
IATA = W6
ICAO = WZZ
callsign = WIZZ AIR
founded = 2003
headquarters = Vecsés, Hungary
hubs =Boryspil International Airport
Katowice International Airport
Poznań-Ławica Airport
Budapest Ferihegy International Airport
Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport
Bucharest Băneasa Airport
Sofia Airport
Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport
Cluj-Napoca International Airport
| key_people = József Váradi (CEO)
Luke Farajallah (COO)
Hub = Budapest Ferihegy International Airport,Durham Tees Valley Airport, Katowice International Airport, Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport
Focus cities = Sofia Airport
alliance=
| website = [http://www.wizzair.com wizzair.com]

Wizz Air is a Hungarian [cite web |title=Hungarian Wizz Air Opens Fifth Hub in Poland |work=Business Week |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=9263282 |accessdate=2008-03-20] [cite web |title=Fliers reap benefits in Eastern Europe |work=International Herald Tribune |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/08/23/eeair_ed3_.php |accessdate=2008-03-20] low-cost airline with headquarters in Vecsés, Hungary. Focusing on the markets of Central Europe the company has operational bases at the Sofia Airport, Bulgaria; Budapest Ferihegy International Airport, Hungary; Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport, Katowice International Airport, Poznań-Ławica Airport and Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport in Poland; Bucharest Băneasa Airport and Cluj-Napoca International Airport, in Romania; Boryspil International Airport, in Ukraine. On August 7, 2008 Wizz Air announced it would open its 10th base at Timişoara Traian Vuia Airport, in Romania, in March 2009 [cite web |title=Wizz Air opens its 10th base in Timisoara, Romania |url=http://wizzair.com/about_us/news/default.asp#huenzudti] .

History

The airline was established in September 2003. The lead investor is Indigo Partners, an American private equity firmFact|date=March 2008 specializing in transportation investments. The first flight was made on 19 May 2004 from Katowice, 19 days after Poland and Hungary entered the European Union and the single European aviation market. The airline carried 250,000 passengers in its first three and a half months, almost 1.4 million passengers in the first year of operations and to date,10 million passengers. In 2007 Wizz Air carried 2.8 million passengers on its Polish routes.

The airline's CEO and chairman is József Váradi, former CEO of Malév Hungarian Airlines. The company is registered in London with operating subsidiaries in Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Wizz Air Bulgaria was established in September 2005Airliner World, January 2007.] .

Wizz Air has been voted the best low-fare airline in Poland by the readers of [http://www.pasazer.com pasazer.com] , a travel news portal in Poland.

József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, won the Ernst & Young award of the 'Brave Innovator' in 2007. The prize recognized the break through in the airline business in Hungary and the region, the business model and the business conduct of Wizz Air.

In summer 2008 Wizz Air became the first Low cost carrier in Ukraine.

Services/destinations

Wizz Air started new services between Katowice and London Gatwick in 2008 [cite web |url=http://wizzair.com/about_us/news/#pgf8573 |title=Wizz Air launches London Gatwick – Katowice flight |date=2007-08-09 |accessdate=2008-05-05] . Winter destinations from Warsaw are Milan Bergamo and Grenoble. In January 2008, flights also started from Gdansk to Goteborg, Bournemouth and Coventry.

In summer 2008, Wizz Air will restart the summer only services from Katowice and Budapest to Barcelona (GRO), as well as a new weekly service to Girona from Gdańsk. Other summer services from Budapest are Crete-Heraklion, Corfu, Bourgas and Varna, from Katowice to Crete-Heraklion and Bourgas, Warsaw to Corfu and Bourgas. They will also restart the three-times weekly service from London Luton to Bourgas.

On 02 October 2008, Wizz Air announced a that a number of their Romania services would have increased frequency following the order of three additional Airbus A320 aircraft [cite web |url=http://wizzair.com/about_us/news/#jk98judt1/ |title=Wizz Air adds three new A320 aircraft and doubles capacity in Romania - 15 new routes in the next six months] . Services will commence from 15 February from Timisoara, 01 March 2009 from Bucharest, and 01 May 2009 from Cluj-Napoca.

Wizz Air Bulgaria

The Bulgarian division of Wizz Air has been awarded licences to begin new services to Greece, Turkey and Moldova. At the moment Wizz Air Bulgaria operates flights from Sofia to London, Rome and Dortmund, and seasonal services from the United Kingdom to Bourgas.

From 26 July 2008, Wizz Air will offer new destinations from Sofia to Varna, Barcelona, Valencia, Milan, Brussels and will expand the number of flights to London, Rome and Dortmund by commissioning another Airbus A320 to serve the new routes.

Fleet

As of March 2008, the Wizz Air fleet includes:

*19 [ [http://book.wizzair.com/about_us/fleet/ Wizz Air ] ] Airbus A320-200 (plus 80 on order)

16 aircraft operate under Wizz Air Hungary, two for Wizz Air Bulgaria and one for Wizz Air Ukraine. It has firm orders for 80 Airbus A320s. [ [http://wizzair.com/cgi-bin/news.cgi?LANGUAGE=English Airbus orders] ] All its A320s are powered by International Aero Engines V2500 engines, even those to be leased from GECAS. The 99.5% technical dispatch reliability is well above the world average. Maintenance is by the Lufthansa Technik maintenance organization. [ [http://wizzair.com/about_us/news/?language=EN#tg5sd95 Wizz Air Sale and Lease Back with GECAS] ]

On 10 October 2007, Wizz Air confirmed an order for a further 50 Airbus A320 aircraft bringing its total commitments of that type up to 80 and an option for further 25 A320s. [ " [http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/10/10/218146/wizz-air-orders-50-more-airbus-a320s.html Wizz Air orders 50 more Airbus A320s] " Fligt Global, 10/10/2007]

Pricing

Wizz Air is a low-cost airline [cite web|title=Wizz Air offering new biz fare|publisher="CNN"|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/01/12/bt.wizz.business.travel/index.html|accessdate=2008-03-20] , passengers pay the fare plus taxes and charges which can include a fuel surcharge, insurance and facility charge, air duty charge, passenger service charge, and security tax. These additional taxes and charges can equate to as much as 55 euros one-way. Wizz Air charges a fee for all checked-in luggages. There is an additional four euro charge per flight per passenger for ordering via the web using a credit card and a ten euro charge per flight per passenger for ordering over the phone. However, Wizz now accepts payment by bank transfer for no additional charge.

External links

* [http://wizzair.com Official website]
* [http://www.wizzmagazine.com Wizzit inflight magazine]

References

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