The ultra-low-cost carrier originally from Hungary, Wizz Air, announces that its Abu Dhabi subsidiary will be expanding the flight network with new direct flight destinations.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Wizz Air subsidiary, on Thursday, 21st July announces the launch of two new routes from Abu Dhabi which includes the Maldives, as well as the airline’s fifth key destination in the Gulf, Kuwait.
With the planned scheduled flight introduction to the Maldives by Wizz Air, this marks the first-ever ultra-low cost carrier slated to operate to the island nation.
The new routes offer travelers with the opportunity to explore “marvelous destinations in line with the airline’s ambition to provide tourists and residents in the UAE and the region with hassle-free, affordable travel options.
Moreover, the airline confirms ticket sales now made available via wizzair.com and through their official mobile application; with fares starting as low as just AED99.00 for Kuwait and AED319.00 for the Maldives.
The airline is set to launch the direct flight operations to Maldives effective from October on a four-times-a-week basis; flights scheduled from Abu Dhabi to Male’ on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
With this expansion, the airline’s operating destinations increase to a total of 34 globally, all within a five-hour flight time radius of Abu Dhabi, since the airline launched back in January 2021.
Furthermore, Wizz bumps its fleet with the acquisition of a fifth aircraft later in 2022, easing flight operations to the Maldives and Kuwait, with an Airbus A321neo set for the operation; which reportedly offers the lowest environmental footprint.
Thursday’s expansion announcement reaffirms the airline’s long-term commitment to offering ultra-low cost fares to “a variety of diverse destinations from Abu Dhabi, whilst stimulating the local economy and job market.”
Speaking about this new expansion plan, the Development Officer of Wizz Air Mr. Owain Jones was quoted stating;
“We are excited to announce two new Wizz Air Abu Dhabi routes, which reaffirm our commitment to supporting the UAE’s travel and tourism industry by connecting its capital with many popular holiday destinations regionally and globally. With the arrival of our fifth Airbus aircraft in October, we are delighted to enhance connectivity with our neighbor countries across the GCC with flights to Kuwait, as well as providing our customers with affordable flights to the Maldives. We are particularly excited about the launch of flights to the Maldives, a tropical paradise destinations high up on traveler’s bucket list. The WIZZ team looks forward to welcoming customers onboard our young and green aircraft very soon.”
The airline’s current operations include Alexandria (Egypt), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Amman (Jordan), Aqaba (Jordan), Athens (Greece), Baku (Azerbaijan), Belgrade (Serbia) and Muscat (Oman) among several other Gulf destinations.
Wizz, founded in September 2003 has its main headquarters in Budapest, Hungary with a reported fleet size of 154, including its Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and Wizz Air UK subsidiaries.
The company in 2021 reports a gross revenue of EUR739.0 million, confirms a prioritized fleet development and airport construction in its prospective investments, with the opening of Brasov airport slated for November 2022.
It’s sister company Wizz Air Abu Dhabi was founded on 12th December 2019, as a joint venture with the state-owned Abu Dhabi Development Holding (ADDH), which owns the company’s 51% stake.
Earlier in May 2022, Wizz Air made affirmations of aiming to switch from fossil fuel options to hydrogen propulsions within the next 10 to 15 years as part of the pilot project with Airbus.
With this direct flight operations originating from Abu Dhabi through an ultra-low cost carrier gives positive economical implications for the Maldivian tourism scene in terms of tourist arrival increment from the Gulf and Middle-East as well as from several Central and Eastern-European countries.
Europe maintains dominance in terms of tourism source market to the Maldives on a regional basis, whereas the Middle-East and Gulf countries are slowly gaining traction as potential and fast-emerging tourist markets.
As of May 2022, Europe held a market share of 52.4% in annual terms; making it the strongest source market in terms of region while the Middle-East region held a market share of 4.8% with a 97.9% improvement.