Wizz Air to establish operations at Cardiff Airport
Wizz Air UK, announced it will have a new base at Cardiff Airport, which will be its fourth alongside London Luton, Gatwick and Doncaster Sheffield. The airline will allocate one Airbus A321 aircraft to Cardiff, a new airport for Wizz Air’s services, and will launch nine new routes.
The new base will offer year-round ultra-low fares from Cardiff for the first time, with connections to destinations including Alicante, Faro, Larnaca and Tenerife as well as seasonal routes during the summer to Corfu, Heraklion and Palma de Mallorca and routes to Lanzarote and Sharm El Sheikh during the winter season.
As Wizz Air’s first venture into Wales, the new base represents a significant investment in Cardiff Airport and the local region by creating over 40 direct jobs and over 250 indirect jobs, supporting industries such as aviation, transportation, hospitality and tourism. Connecting Wales with nine popular holiday destinations will provide a boost to the local economy by increasing the annual capacity of Cardiff Airport by over 350,000 seats, providing local passengers with even more affordable and exciting travel opportunities on their doorstep.
This announcement follows a period of recent expansion for the airline, with Wizz Air UK opening new bases at Gatwick and Doncaster Sheffield Airport in October and adding an eleventh aircraft to its London Luton base in July. With the allocation of this aircraft, Wizz Air UK’s fleet will grow to 14 aircraft and the addition of these new routes from Cardiff Airport means WIZZ now operates 132 routes from 11 UK airports.
Owain Jones, Managing Director of Wizz Air UK, said: “This is an extremely exciting time for Wizz Air as we increase our footprint in the UK even further. The creation of our fourth UK base at Cardiff Airport reflects Wizz Air’s continued commitment to serving the UK market and generating economic growth, as we create local jobs, stimulate the tourism and hospitality industries and deliver on our promise of providing affordable, direct flights to exciting holiday destinations. Today’s expansion into Wales brings increased connectivity to the region, so passengers can take advantage of Wizz Air’s ultra-low fares to travel to their favourite sunny holiday spots on-board our young and green aircraft fleet. With the launch of 47 new routes from the UK this year alone, we’re making sure that passengers can make up for lost time in creating amazing travel memories.”
Spencer Birns, interim CEO of Cardiff Airport, said: “On behalf of the team we are delighted to welcome Wizz Air UK to Wales. The fact that one of the leading Low Cost Airlines in the world has chosen to set up their next base at Cardiff is fantastic news for Wales. The Wizz Air UK base will bring a huge amount of choice for our customers to travel to some of the most popular holiday destinations from Cardiff, at affordable prices. We know many people living in Wales are craving a well-deserved holiday after such a challenging year and these new flights going on sale today from Cardiff, will give so many more opportunities for holidays to be planned now that will give us all something to look forward to for next year. We look forward to working closely with Wizz Air UK ahead of the launch of their Cardiff base in time for operations starting next Spring and building on this exciting opportunity for Wales.”
Ken Skates, Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, said: “This is welcome news and a positive step that will help Cardiff Airport emerge from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new Wizz services will increase choice for passengers, create jobs and add to the airport’s economic benefits. I look forward to the nine new routes being made available in the coming months.”