Wizz Air to open Cardiff base in 2Q21; defers Bari, Russia

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi plots limited 1Q21 launch

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (5W, Abu Dhabi Int'l) has announced that it would launch on January 15, 2021, following a series of delays caused by the ongoing COVID-related travel restrictions.

The low-cost carrier will initially limit its network of scheduled flights out of Abu Dhabi Int'l to Athens Int'l. On February 4, 2021, it will launch services to Thessaloniki.

Initially, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi planned to launch on October 1, 2020, with its network comprising flights to Athens, Alexandria Borg el Arab, Kutaisi, Larnaca, Odesa, and Yerevan. It received its Air Operator's Certificate with a delay on October 20 but could not launch due to the prevailing travel restrictions. It now said that it remained committed to the announced network and it will launch all routes "as each destination joins the ‘green countries’ list".

The start-up, a 30/70 joint venture between Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ) and Wizz Air Holdings, has so far taken deliveries of three A321-200NXs. It will be the third...

London-listed airlines restrict UK shareholders' rights

Ukraine International Airlines to add second London route

Ukraine International Airlines (PS, Kyiv Boryspil) has announced the start of services to London Heathrow on December 17, 2020, complimenting its existing flights to London Gatwick.

Flights from Kyiv Boryspil to Heathrow will operate 3x weekly using E190s, the ch-aviation schedules module shows. UIA will be the only carrier operating between the Ukrainian capital and Britain's main gateway. The airline flies to Gatwick 5x weekly using a mix of E190s and B737-800s.

UIA said that it would offer interline services via Heathrow to Toronto Pearson, Montréal Trudeau, and Vancouver Int'l in cooperation with Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) and to Orlando Int'l with British Airways (BA, London Heathrow).

Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int'l) operates 2x weekly from Kyiv Boryspil to London Stansted, while Wizz Air UK (W9, London Luton) flies 3x weekly from Kyiv Igor Sikorsky to London Luton.

Wizz Air hopes for new post-Brexit slot rules in the UK

Wizz Air UK (W9, London Luton) is lobbying the British government to change slot allocation rules following the end of the post-Brexit transition period at the end of 2020 in order to scoop more slots at London Gatwick, Managing Director Owain Jones told The Mail on Sunday.

The British subsidiary of Wizz Air has long eyed slots at Gatwick, which are currently held, but not used, by rivals such as Norwegian (DY, Oslo Gardermoen) and easyJet (U2, London Luton). Full-service carrier British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) also uses only a fraction of its allocated slots at the airport, while Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) has suspended all of its flights from the airport. In normal times, these slots would have been stripped from the airlines. However, the European Commission - which still governs the UK slot regime during the transition period - recently extended the suspension of the "use it or lose it" rule through the end of March 2021.

Jones underlined that these rules...