Wizz Air has revealed Jordan as its next country in the Middle East. With eight routes across Europe announced, two airports in the country will be served, with all flights taking off before Christmas. With lead-in fares from €9.99 one-way, demand is expected to increase strongly.

What's happening?

Wizz Air has announced four routes to both Amman, the capital of Jordan, and Aqaba, the increasingly popular Jordanian tourist resort. While the capital will be served year-round, Aqaba will be winter-only. Aqaba is a coastal resort in Jordan, close to Petra and the Wadi Rum desert. It is usually served winter-seasonally from Europe.

  • Amman to Budapest: starting December 17th, twice-weekly
  • Amman to Milan Malpensa: December 18th, twice-weekly
  • Amman to Rome Fiumicino: December 19th, twice-weekly
  • Amman to Vienna: December 19th, twice-weekly
  • Aqaba to Budapest: December 16th, twice-weekly
  • Aqaba to Bucharest: December 15th, twice-weekly
  • Aqaba to Rome Fiumicino: December 19th, twice-weekly
  • Aqaba to Vienna: December 19th, twice-weekly

Wizz Air will face direct competition from both Ryanair and Austrian Airlines on Amman to Vienna (twice- and four-weekly respectively), together with Royal Jordanian from Amman to Rome Fiumicino (four-weekly). It'll also have indirect competition from Ryanair to Amman from Milan Bergamo and Rome Ciampino, and from Ciampino to Aqaba.

Wizz Air's routes to Jordan
The first flight will depart on December 15th. Image: GCMap.

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167,000 passengers expected in the first year

In the first year, Wizz Air expects to carry 167,000 tourists to/from Jordan, according to a press conference. Many will be foreign tourists, although Amman will also appeal to Jordanians visiting friends and relatives too. Speaking at the press event, Owain Jones, Wizz Air's Chief Supply Chain and Legal Officer and Managing Director of Wizz Air Innovation Ltd, said:

"We are very delighted that Jordan is the 51st country that we collaborate with. The development witnessed in Jordan is great and we want to help drive the business up, as well as the tourism industry."

Vienna to Aqaba
A one-way from Vienna to Aqaba can be had from just €9.99 or about $11.60. Image: Wizz Air.

Why is this happening?

This development was enabled by the EU-Jordan open skies agreement in 2010. Although growth was initially slow, things sped up in 2019. There were 653,000 low-cost carrier (LCC) seats between the EU and Jordan in 2019, Cirium data shows, three times more than the year before. Ryanair was the driving force, with over 84% of the total.

Low-cost carrier development to Jordan
While Ryanair remains Jordan's leading LCC to/from Europe, it'll be interesting to see how much Wizz Air grows. Source of data: Cirium.

2022 to be the best year yet

Next year is set to be the best yet, with 799,404 seats already scheduled, including Wizz Air's new services. Will 2022 be the year when LCC seats pass one million? As Abdelrazzak Arabiyat, the head of the Jordanian Tourism Board (JTB), said:

"The ministry and JTB’s main priority is to attract more visitors by supporting charter and low-cost flights, increasing the rate of tourists’ stay and the tourism income."

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