Hungary’s Wizz Air to shutter bases in Dortmund and Riga

Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) has informed its staff in Dortmund in an email seen by local media, and has confirmed to ch-aviation, that it has decided to close its base thereafter the current summer season is over. Routes and frequencies will remain as planned during the summer season, but they will significantly reduce after the base closes on October 24.

It was only in June 2020 that Wizz Air opened its first base in Germany at Dortmund airport. The airport has informed its own employees as well about the base’s abandonment.

The airline has also opted to drop its base in Riga, Latvia, it confirmed to ch-aviation. This closure of this base, which it had operated since 2014, will take place on October 3.

The two closures are necessary, the carrier said, to be able to continue to adapt to the dynamically changing realities of the aviation market in the time of the pandemic. The aircraft remaining in Dortmund and Riga will be diverted to other markets and routes. It has three aircraft based in Dortmund and two in Riga. The airline did not speak of layoffs, saying only that the employees concerned would be offered alternative workplaces at other bases.

Wizz Air will continue to accept new aircraft so that in 2030 its fleet will reach 500 aircraft, the spokesperson added, reassuring that despite the need for changes it will remain present in the Latvian and German markets.

Wizz Air currently operates 36 bases across Europe, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows, including its only other base in the Baltics, in Vilnius. According to the ch-aviation capacities module, from Dortmund it currently flies to 41 destinations, including the latest to launch, Marrakech 2x weekly since July 4. It had offered 46 destinations for booking for the upcoming winter season. From Riga, 11 destinations are currently on offer.

Wizz Air told ch-aviation that it had “decided to close its Dortmund base and take advantage of growth opportunities by reallocating its capacity to other routes with higher demand effective from 24 October 2021. Dortmund will remain an integral part of the Wizz Air network and the airline will continue to connect Dortmund with over 30 destinations in Europe including the popular Sarajevo, Sofia, Belgrade, Budapest, and many others. All affected employees at the Dortmund base will be offered opportunities elsewhere in the Wizz Air network.”

It added: “Riga will remain an integral part of the Wizz Air network and the airline will continue to connect Riga with 10 destinations in Europe including the popular cities of Dortmund, Eindhoven, Oslo Torp, Stockholm Skavsta, and several UK services. The aircraft will be moved from Riga to Vilnius along with the Reykjavik Keflavik service. As a result of the above changes, the Reykjavik route previously operated from Riga will move to Vilnius as of 17 December. All affected employees at the Riga base will be offered opportunities elsewhere in the Wizz Air network.”

Wizz Air’s current fleet of 136 aircraft includes sixty-eight A320-200s, six A320-200Ns (with thirty-four more to be delivered), thirty-six A321-200s, twenty-five A321-200NXs (with 183 more to be delivered plus an additional twenty A321-200NX(XLR)s), and a single A330-200F.