Wizz Air achieved huge growth in the United Kingdom in 2019. The low-cost carrier saw its total number of passengers jump by 26% year on year from 2018. The airline expanded its UK operations including serving two new destinations.

Wizz Air has been slowly growing as a low-cost carrier. However, it still has a way to go before it fully rivals Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair. Unlike Ryanair, however, Wizz Air uses a fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft for its operations. Despite operating a network across Europe, Wizz has seen a huge growth in the United Kingdom specifically.

New routes and airports

Wizz Air's UK growth in passengers has partially been driven by new routes and commencing operations at two new airports. In fact, in 2019 Wizz Air carried a total of 9.2 million passengers. According to the airline, this represents an increase of greater than a quarter; 26 percent to be exact.

The increase in passengers was down to Wizz's added capacity in the United Kingdom market. The low-cost carrier commenced operations at London Southend Airport alongside Edinburgh Airport. As a result, 11 airports are not served in the United Kingdom. This gives Wizz Air capacity of 12 million passengers across the UK airports it serves.

The European airline is London Luton's largest low-cost carrier. 12 new routes were added from Luton last year. This accounts for over a third of the carrier's new United Kingdom routes, which total 28. As a result, 105 routes are now operated from the United Kingdom to a total of 59 destinations.

Over three-quarters of Wizz Air's total United Kingdom traffic went through London Luton. The airline said that, of the 9.2 million United Kingdom passengers carried in 2019, over 7 million of these were Luton passengers.

16 years in the making

Wizz Air's impressive United Kingdom growth has been 16 years in the making. The airline's first flight to the UK was from Katowice, Poland. It was operated in 2004. Since then, the low-cost carrier has gone on to carry a total of 60 million passengers to and from the country. Commenting on the numbers Owain Jones, Managing Director, Wizz Air UK said,

“We are proud to have reached the major milestone of 60 million UK passengers since our first UK flight in 2004. We would like to thank our loyal customers for continuing to choose Wizz Air for its low fares, diverse route network and great service onboard our young and green fleet."

The low-cost carrier is set to continue its expansion in 2020, both in the UK and in Europe as a whole. Jones added,

"We look forward to welcoming customers onboard our modern aircraft on the over 100 routes we offer from the UK in 2020 and offering unforgettable travel experiences."

Have you flown with Wizz Air in the past year? What did you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!