Budget airline Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is set to take to the skies later in 2020.
The news of a Q3 launch comes after Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company (ADDH) announced on Monday that it had concluded the deal to partner with the Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air, accoridn got our sister site Arabian Business.
The new budget airline will launch operations from Abu Dhabi International Airport to destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The airline, which will be 51 percent Abu Dhabi-owned, will start flying with a fleet of three new Airbus SE A321neos, increasing to 50 planes over 10 years.
Mohamed Hassan Al Suwaidi, CEO of ADDH, said: “Last year the emirate achieved a record high of 11.35 million visitors and a key driver for this is the connectivity that enables people to visit Abu Dhabi easily and affordably.
“Our partnerships with Wizz Air and others will help elevate the UAE’s capital as a highly competitive regional and international destination for leisure and business travellers alike.”
Wizz Air offers more than 700 routes from 25 bases, connecting 155 destinations across 45 countries, with a fleet of 120 aircraft, made up of A320s and A321s.
The new airline, the Budapest-based group’s first outside Europe, will focus on establishing routes to markets in which Wizz Air has existing, high growth operations – central and eastern and western Europe.
József Váradi, CEO of Wizz Air Holdings, added: “Wizz Air’s mission feeds into Abu Dhabi’s diversified economic strategy as we aim to stimulate traffic by creating demand to the benefit of growing Abu Dhabi’s touristic and economic diversity.”
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will be the seventh airline to operate from the UAE after Emirates airline, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Flydubai, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi and the new, as yet unnamed, airline planned to operate from Ras Al Khaimah.
