The Wizz Air Group currently consists of four subsidiaries, primarily Wizz Air Hungary, Wizz Air UK, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, and the youngest, Wizz Air Malta. The Maltese subsidiary only commenced operations less than seven months ago, last September, but has expanded rapidly.Despite its young age, Wizz Air Malta's growth continues at a quick pace as the airline just recently welcomed its 50th aircraft. While it's astonishing for the Maltese subsidiary to already have such an extensive fleet, the airline's equally extensive route network desperately needed increased capacity.

Wizz Air Malta welcomes another Airbus A321neo

The 50th addition to Wizz Air Malta's fleet is a new Airbus A321neo registered 9H-WDK, delivered to the airline via a financing agreement made with the lessor SMBC Group. Configured for 239 passengers in a one-class cabin configuration, the Airbus narrowbody provides Wizz Air Malta with a much-needed capacity boost.

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9H-WDK will be based in Rome, so passengers can expect to chance upon the aircraft pretty often as it will operate on the 77 routes Wizz Air Malta offers from the Italian capital. And the new fleet addition has already commenced flight services after operating as W62451/2452 and W62371/2372 in the past couple of days.

With the summer schedule starting, 9H-WDK will certainly be utilized a lot more. And the fleet addition was celebrated by Captain Charles Pace, Director General of the Civil Aviation Directorate Malta, who said:

“I would like to congratulate Wizz Air Malta for reaching the 50th aircraft milestone in such a short time. Excellent working arrangements have been set up for an efficient process. I would also like to thank the Wizz Air Malta team, as well as the airworthiness inspectorate within CAD Malta, who made this happen. We look forward to continuing the process to achieve the ambitious target set by the company”.

Wizz Air Malta is ready for more

Suppose 50 aircraft for a six-month-old budget carrier seems impressive; then knowing that Wizz Air Malta is expecting another four aircraft will be even more remarkable. All four incoming additions will also be Airbus A321neos and three already have their registrations including 9H-WDH, 9H-WDJ, and 9H-WDM - although it is uncertain when their exact delivery date is this year.

Wizz Air Malta currently operates about 265 routes to 96 airports in 36 countries, from Italy, Albania, Austria, and Romania. Still, the low-cost carrier plans to expand its already extensive route network soon to meet the surging demand for air travel within Europe, especially during the upcoming summer season, making adding another four new aircraft understandable.

And confirming such plans was the airline's managing director, Diarmuid O'Conghaile, as he said:

"Having started operations only six months ago, Wizz Air Malta is now operating up to 200 flights per day from 14 bases in 4 countries. We are proud to have grown so quickly and efficiently, thanks to the amazing team of 1,500 dedicated employees. With more aircraft and routes to come, Wizz Air Malta will continue to reinforce its strong position and expansion plans across Europe.”

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Bottom line

Like the Abu Dhabi subsidiary, Wizz Air Malta has grown quickly due to the soaring demand for air travel within Europe, and with added capacity come future routes for the low-cost carrier. It'll certainly be interesting to see how this upcoming summer season will fare for Wizz Air Malta, mainly since it's already operating a relatively busy schedule.

What do you think of Wizz Air Malta's growth? Let us know in the comments below.

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  Wizz Air

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  W6/WZZ

  Airline Type:

  Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier

  Year Founded:

  2003

  CEO:

  József Váradi

  Country:

  Hungary