Wizz Air to launch 4 routes to Dubai

Dubai: European low cost carrier, Wizz Air, making its UAE debut from Dubai World Central airport, will connect Dubai with four European routes including Budapest (Hungary), Bucharest (Romania), Kiev (Ukraine) and Sofia (Bulgaria) starting October 28 this year.

The Hungarian budget carrier expects to carry at least 250,000 passengers on its UAE network in the first year of operations, according to Jozsef Varadi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air.

He told reporter on Wednesday that Wizz Air will consider expanding operations to other markets in the region including Turkey and Egypt. “Recently, we have received resignations to Egypt, where, we are looking at the holiday places like Sharm Al Shaikh,” he said.

Quizzed on plans for markets like Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, Varadi said: “We are not yet active on those markets. Some markets are more restrictive than others. Dubai has a fairly liberal regulatory regime. Also, we look at point-to-point potential of the market.”

Asked when Dubai could potentially become the hub for Wizz Air, Varadi said: “We need to gain some operational and market experience before we made a decision on that,” indicating it could take a year or two. He added it could mean expanding as far as to India [from Dubai] and other neighbouring markets.