Wizz Air secures Kuwait rights, UAE unit to return to Russia

Doncaster/Sheffield, UK to close from early 4Q22

Doncaster/Sheffield Airport will begin winding down operations on October 31, 2022, after its owners were unable to make the aerodrome financially viable and could not foresee a scenario where this would change. The announcement follows a strategic review in July where owners, the Peel Group, entered into ultimately fruitless talks with airport users and stakeholders.

"The high fixed costs associated with running a safe, regulated airport, together with recent events materially reducing prospective future aviation income streams, mean that a break-even business plan cannot be identified for the foreseeable future," reads a statement from the Peel Group. "Regretfully, no tangible proposals have been received regarding the ownership of the airport or which address the fundamental lack of financial viability. As a result, Doncaster Airport will begin winding down the provision of aviation services during the week commencing Monday, 31 October 2022."

According to the ch-aviation PRO airports module, three airlines fly into Doncaster - TUI Airways, Wizz Air, and cargo carrier Astral Aviation. In June, Wizz Air canceled a large number of flights...

Wizz Air Malta adds first aircraft, completes certification

Wizz Air Malta (WMT, Malta Int'l) has completed its certification drive after adding its first A321-200NX ahead of its planned launch on September 27, 2022.

9H-WAM (msn 10389) was transferred from sister carrier Wizz Air (W6, Budapest), where it operated as HA-LVS through September 18, 2022. Following brief maintenance at Katowice, the aircraft was ferried to Budapest on September 25 and to Malta Int'l the day after. Once induction formalities were finalised in Malta, the A321neo was ferried back to Budapest.

Wizz Air Holdings plans to place 78 aircraft with the new Maltese unit by the Summer 2023 season, Transport Malta Director General for Civil Aviation, Charles Pace, shared.

The Maltese airline has a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AOC rather than a Maltese one. However, its Operating Licence was issued by the Maltese Civil Aviation Directorate.

"We are expecting this airline to register a substantial amount of aircraft in our country, further increasing the number of our already strong 9H- fleet. Malta will...

Wizz Air targets 50 aircraft for its future Saudi unit

Wizz Air Holdings is planning to outfit equip its future Saudi Arabian unit with around 50 aircraft, of which half will operate to international destinations in the Middle East, while the other half will be split equally between domestic routes and other international operations, Bloomberg has reported citing investor briefings.

The LCC hopes to achieve the target fleet size by the end of the decade, although Chief Executive József Varádi stressed that the priority was finding a local partner. Wizz Air Holdings intends to enter into a joint venture with a Saudi company, which is also necessary for regulatory reasons.

"The first and foremost process is to find the right partnership with local investors, and this is what we're working on. Once this gets sorted, then we can complete the formal process of an airline application," Varádi said.

The holding has a similar partnership in the United Arab Emirates, where it entered into a JV with the sovereign wealth fund ADQ to establish Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (5W, Abu Dhabi Int'l).

Wizz Air's...

Wizz Air firms 75 A321neo options

Wizz Air Holdings has firmed up seventy-five A321-200N options as it seeks to both grow its fleet and lower its fuel consumption.

"On 14 September 2022, [Wizz Air] gave notice to Airbus to exercise Purchase Rights in relation to 75 Airbus A321neo aircraft. Delivery dates of the Purchase Option Aircraft are subject to agreement between Wizz Air and Airbus and will be subject to the approval of Wizz Air shareholders as a Class 1 transaction under the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules," the carrier said in a stock market filing.

The options were secured as a part of its 2021 order for seventy-five A321-200Ns and twenty-seven A321-200NY(XLR)s, Wizz Air's share of an order for 255 aircraft placed by the LCC's investor Indigo Partners.

Wizz Air said the new order would bring it closer to its target fleet of around 500 aircraft by the end of the 2020s. The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows its Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) subsidiary currently operates fifty A320-200s, six A320-200Ns, thirty-five...