Wizz Air to close base in Moldova from December due to safety threats

Wizz Air will close its base at Chisinau International Airport (KIV) in Moldova for an “indefinite period”, according to the country’s media.

The Hungarian ultra-low-cost will suspend all flights from KIV airport from December 1, 2022, ProTV Chisinau reported on October 28, 2022, citing a statement made by Wizz Air.

The airline decided to adjust its schedule for the upcoming winter season by ceasing flights to Paris (BVA), Brussels (CLR), Basel (BSL), and Turin (TRN).

However, the carrier will continue operating one-way flights to Chisinau, a hub that was established by the airline in March 2017, from several countries in Europe. This includes Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. This also means that Wizz Air aircraft will no longer remain at Chisinau airport overnight.

“Following a thorough risk assessment and considering the risks of closing the airspace in the Republic of Moldova, we have adjusted our 2022-2023 winter program from Chisinau to ensure that it can be operated on a sustained basis,” Wizz Air said in the statement reported by ProTV.

“We remain committed to the Moldovan market and our customers. As soon as we have the stability and certainty, we will reopen the base,” the air carrier explained.

The closure follows operational safety threats which arose after Russian army missiles violated Moldova’s airspace. The missiles were launched at Ukraine from Russian ships in the Black Sea on October 10, 2022.

“The missiles posed a danger to the infrastructure of the Republic of Moldova and, in particular, to civil aircraft flying over the country’s airspace,” Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said in an official statement released on the day of the incident.