• Wizz Air Getty Gdansk
    Wizz Air
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    W6/WZZ
    Airline Type:
    Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier
    Year Founded:
    2003
    CEO:
    József Váradi
    Country:
    Hungary

Wizz Air is set to expand its presence in Romania after Romanian low-cost carrier Blue Air suspended all of its operations. Wizz will station another five aircraft in the country and has bolstered capacity on its existing routes, whilst adding three more routes from Bucharest. We take a closer look at Wizz Air's Romanian expansion below.

Wizz moves swiftly to expand in Romania

Following Blue Air's decision to suspend all flights this week and perhaps beyond, Wizz Air has announced a significant expansion of its Romanian operations. The Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier will station five more aircraft at its Bucharest base, taking it to 17 in total.

The carrier has also announced new services to Athens, Prague and Larnaca whilst increasing frequencies on over 30 existing routes, including London, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Paris, Brussels-Charleroi, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Madrid and Tel Aviv.

wizz-air-a321
Wizz will station five more Airbus A321s in Bucharest, starting in October. Photo: Wizz Air

Evelin Jeckel, Acting Network Officer, said,

"Wizz Air is excited to make such a significant investment into Bucharest and Romania. We know how important it is for passengers to be able to travel, and we want to ensure that customers have choices to plan their trips."

Wizz Air's new routes to Athens, Prague and Larnaca will launch on December 2nd - Athens and Larnaca will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, while its flights to Prague will be on Mondays and Fridays. Fares start at EUR 24.99 ($24.69).

Rescue fares for Blue Air customers

Wizz has also revealed it will offer rescue fares for customers affected by Blue Air's suspension of operations. Affected passengers can book new fares with Wizz using their Blue Air booking references.

Blue Air boeing 737 MAX
Blue Air is in a debt crisis that it cannot recover from without an investor. Photo: Blue Air

Romanian carrier Blue Air abruptly suspended flights yesterday after its finances were frozen by Romanian authorities. Romania's Ministry of Environment blocked the airline's bank accounts after it failed to pay a fine.

The fine in question, to the tune of EUR 2 million ($1.98 million), was imposed by Romania's consumer protection authority after Blue Air canceled more than 11,000 flights from April 2021 to April 2022.

Discover more aviation news with Simple Flying.

2.6 million more seats

Wizz's expansion will see the airline add another 2.6 million seats to its Romanian network, taking it to 13.8 million seats. The carrier offers over 180 domestic and international routes from eleven airports in the country.

Evelin Jeckel added,

"With 13.8 million seats providing new and expanded low fare service to 36 destinations from Romania, as well as our rescue fares for Blue Air customers, Wizz Air reinforces its commitment to the Romanian market, continuing our expansion, and firmly establishing Wizz Air as the market leader. We now offer close to 200 routes from Romania."

Last month, Wizz Air announced up to 20 new routes as part of an expansion into Saudi Arabia following an agreement with Saudi authorities. This includes two new routes out of Bucharest, with flights to Jeddah and Riyadh launching in January 2023.

Were you affected by Blue Air suspending all flights this week? Do you have your eye on any of Wizz Air's fares? Let us know in the comments.