Wizzair has Based a Fourth Aircraft at London Luton

Low cost carrier Wizzair has just taken delivery of a new airbus aircraft that is unspecified. The aircraft is now based at London Luton, bringing the total number of aircraft based there to 4. Not only did the airline take delivery of this aircraft, but it has also launched a new, direct service from London Luton to Tirana in Albania. This new route only has one competitor, that being British Airways which operates from London Gatwick, however Wizzair and British Airways are low cost carriers and premium carriers respectively. This means, that since Wizzair offers the lowest fares, the airline is able to attract more customers even though it flies from an airport very far away from London city center. British Airways however, is by far the most convenient, however the airline offers higher fares, resulting in a lower load factor than that of Wizzair in some cases.

The newest addition to the Luton based fleet is likely to be an Airbus A320 or A321. Although it is uncertain, the A320 is most likely as the only other based at Luton are all Airbus A320-200s. Upon delivery of the fourth aircraft, Owain Jones, the Chief Corporate officer at Wizzair said, “Wizz continues to expand its low-fare network across Europe like never before, and the allocation of a fourth aircraft to our base at Luton once again shows our dedication to our UK customers”. The airline added that by the end of 2018, it wants to have based eight aircraft at the London base in order to prepare for Brexit. Brexit is a huge issue for airlines, as when Britan leaves the EU, it will no longer be part of the open skies agreement in the EU. Wizzair has taken measures to retain full market access in the UK by launching a new subsidiary called Wizzair UK which operates as its own company with its own Air Operators Certificate (AOC) under the ownership of Wizzair Hungary Ltd. (Wizzair).

In addition to the new aircraft delivery, Wizzair has launched a new route to Tirana in Albania. The new route is the only low cost link between the UK and Albania, making it a very important route for both the governments of both parties and the travellers. Tirana Airport CEO, Dr. Rolf Castro-Vasquez said, “We are delighted with this new service operated by Wizz Air. This will be of great help to many Albanians who live in or near to London, and will offer new opportunities for tourists to explore Albania more fully”. Flights to Athens and Reykjavik in Greece and Iceland respectively are scheduled to start on the 29 of April 2018.

Wizzair currently has a fleet of 91 aircraft comprising of 66 Airbus A320-200s and 25 Airbus A321-200s, however it has huge orders for 279 aircraft comprising of A321-200s, A320-200s, A320Neos and A321Neos. Deliveries for the A321Neos are scheduled to commence in 2019 and should finish in 2026. Wizzair has immense growth plans, and the airlines' UK-based subsidiary is likely to become very successful.