With the escalation of COVID-19 cases in most parts of Europe as a result of the new B.1.1.529 variant, better known as Omicron, many people have seen their travel plans for the end-of-year holidays and winter vacation disrupted, and airlines have started to reduce their network. Such is the case of Wizz Air, which eliminated 84 routes and two newly added destinations.
The Hungarian ultra-low-cost airline has been one of the most committed airlines in exploring new markets hoping to take advantage of the pandemic situation, entering places that others were abandoning. One particular case was Italy, where without Alitalia, Wizz Air expanded by creating three bases and new routes, becoming the market with the broadest range of flights.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is the Hungarian low-cost carrier’s biggest bet, as it seeks to establish a large operating base in the Middle East. Wizz Air has also increased its operations in Western Europe, Africa, Turkey, and the Middle East, including the creation of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to serve the surrounding region. Between 2020 and 2021 they have launched nearly 400 new routes both seasonal and permanent.
However, the company’s executives had anticipated that the performance of many routes would be tested to whether or not their continuity could be confirmed, as in some cases they were new routes, which were not even inaugurated or had only operated for a few days. At the other end of the spectrum, Ryanair also followed in its footsteps.
It seems that this cocktail of disproportionate growth combined with the growing number of COVID-19 cases as well as competition in all sectors has now reached a breaking point.
Which routes were eliminated?
Vienna (VIE), Austria, has been the hardest hit with twelve routes eliminated from there: Alghero (AHO), Charleroi (CRL), Cologne (GCN), Dortmund (DTM), Eindhoven (EIN), Faro (FAO), Madrid (MAD), Menorca (MEH), Oslo (OSL), Skavsta (NYO), Tallinn (TLL) and Warsaw (WAW).
The Austrian capital is one of Ryanair’s most important bases, so much of Wizz Air’s network must compete directly with the Irish airline.
Other airports affected include Larnaca, Cyprus, (eight routes cut); Warsaw, Poland, (seven); Naples, Italy, (six); Gdansk, Poland (five); Milan/Malpensa, Italy (five); Eindhoven, Netherlands (five), Dortmund, Germany (four); Sofia, Bulgaria (four) and Zaporizhzhia, Greece (three).
Within this confusion, it was announced that the Norwegian city of Bodø, which had a link to Gdansk, was eliminated from its network. They also removed the Turkish tourist city of Bodrum, which only had Rome as a destination.
