Dubai: Newly launched Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is the latest UAE airline to launch services to Tel Aviv. The budget carrier's first flights to Israel's capital will start in February.
“Tel Aviv [tickets] are open and by mid-February we’ll be opening to Tel Aviv as an immediate third destination,” said Kees Van Schaick, Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.
“I think it is a hugely exciting development from a political perspective - essentially opening up the market from the UAE to Israel,” said József Váradi, CEO of Wizz Air, which is a shareholder in Wizz Air Abu Dhabi along with ADQ. “Wizz Air is the largest international carrier in Israel - we have a long history of operating in that market.”
The Abu Dhabi airline's maiden Abu Dhabi flight - to Athens - on January 15 is fully booked. “We are sold out all the way out and back… (and) the fact that we are sold out means that there is willingness to travel,” said Van Schaick.
Dubai touchdown
Wizz Air Hungary will temporarily operate flights to Dubai to bring tourists into the country. “We need to see that as a very temporary move because after one or two months, we will bring the aircraft back," he added. "And we will connect the three destinations - Budapest Bucharest, and Sofia - directly to Abu Dhabi.”
