Wizz Air announces 8 routes, including new base at Catania
Wizz Air has today (8 September) revealed an additional eight routes and its latest base in Western Europe.
Its new Catania base, its 36th, will have two A321s. It joins other bases in Western Europe at Doncaster, Gatwick, Larnaca, Luton, Milan Malpensa, and Vienna.
Half of Wizz Air’s eight coming routes are within Italy, with domestic markets a new development for the carrier. It’ll take the fight to new Sicilian operator Tayaran Jet.
Wizz Air’s four new domestic routes supplement its recently announced Milan Malpensa to Catania and Palermo services, with Malpensa – Catania to increase from two- to three-daily.
Catania is a long-standing airport in Wizz Air’s network from which it now has 20 routes. It is one of 16 Italian airports for the carrier.
Despite coronavirus, Western Europe was the only region to have grown for the ULCC this current year, with such seats exceeding 3.1 million – excluding recent route announcements.
Route summary
| Routing | Weekly frequency | Start date | Direct competition (WF)* | Indirect competition (WF)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catania – Bologna | 14 | 8 October | Ryanair (12), Tayaran Jet (7) | None |
| Catania – London Luton** | 2 | 22 October | easyJet (3) | easyJet: Gatwick (4) |
| Catania – Memmingen | 2 | 28 October | None | Air Dolomiti: Munich (2) |
| Catania – Rome Fiumicino | 21 | 8 October | Alitalia (42), Ryanair (16), Tayaran Jet (7) | None |
| Catania – Venice | 7 | 8 October | Volotea (12), Ryanair (8), easyJet (2) | See note in caption. |
| Chișinău – Liverpool | 2 | 22 October | None | None |
| Cluj Napoca – Liverpool** | 2 | 23 October | None | None |
| Milan Malpensa – Bari | 7 | 8 October | easyJet (11), Ryanair (3) | Ryanair: Bergamo (12) |
| Source: airline websites and OAG Schedules Analyser. *Based on the same week as Wizz Air begins, unless otherwise stated. Frequencies pick up later in the month and beyond. *Based on the same week as Wizz Air begins, unless otherwise stated. Frequencies pick up later in the month and beyond. ** Reintroduced. Note: Ryanair normally operates Catania – Venice Treviso, but this service is temporarily operated from Marco Polo. | ||||
Italy is Wizz Air’s fourth most profitable country
Data from RDC’s Apex platform shows that Italy was Wizz Air’s fourth most profitable country market in the year to March 2020.
Wizz Air had 5.9 million Italy seats last year equivalent to 14% of the carrier’s TCAX, OAG schedules data indicates.
Italy has grown well for the ULCC, with a CAGR of 8% between 2010 and 2019 – but this excludes all of its seats in the present year from its new routes, especially from Malpensa.
Italy is Wizz Air’s second most profitable in Western Europe, behind the UK, hence the carrier’s continued and strong focus on them.
The country is Ryanair’s second-most profitable and is fifth for easyJet.
Source: OAG Schedules Analyser.
Liverpool grew strongly for Wizz Air last year
The Merseyside airport had 386,000 Wizz Air seats last year, up by 48% YOY.
The introduction of Chișinău and the recommencement of Cluj means that the carrier now has 11 routes from the airport.
Liverpool is one of only two airports served by the airline in Northern England. When Doncaster is added, the two had a combined 1.1 million seats.
This meant that Wizz Air had only just over one-quarter of Northern England’s capacity to Central and Eastern Europe, perhaps not as much as expected.
With thanks to Sean M for his assistance in the preparation of this article.
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