Ambitious flight plan
As 2008 gets under way, Wizz Air is following through on its strategy to secure its position as the leader on Poland's low-cost airline market. The airline has announced the opening of a new base in Poznań this week, and has also revealed the purchase of three new Airbus planes. It has also opened an additional 14 routes to and from Poland and has said it will re-launch five routes in the summer to cater to vacation travellers.
"We will soon announce the launch of even more new routes," said Natasa Kázmér, the head of corporate communications and public affairs at Wizz Air. "We do not want to develop towards the West, except Austria and Switzerland. Natural development [for us] would be into Turkey and Ukraine, but as these countries are not members of the European Union, and they are not part of the Open Skies Agreement. So there are lots of regulations and barriers," explained Kázmér.
For the new base in Poznań - Wizz Air's fourth in Poland after Katowice, Warsaw and Gdańsk - the company has hired and trained 40 new people.
This summer the company will operate 19 planes. The three new planes have already been stationed at the Katowice, Gdańsk and Poznań hubs. Before the summer, the company plans to add yet another three Airbuses to its fleet. According to Wizz Air, it will have 42 planes by 2011 and 82 by 2014.
In 2007, Wizz Air carried 4.2 million passengers, including 2.8 million passengers to or from Poland.
"That [number of Polish passengers] is 33 percent more than we carried in 2006," said Kázmér. In 2008, the airline expects to transport 6.2 million passengers in total, including four million to or from Poland.
"With new aircraft, a new base, new routes and greater frequency on existing routes, we will increase our capacity by 40 percent in 2008." said Kázmér.
In January 2008, the company had a 35-percent share in Poland's low-cost carrier market. Ryanair had 26 percent and Centralwings 24 percent. Wizz Air expects that it will obtain 39 percent of the market by June this year.
