Wizz Air connects Budapest to 5 West Balkan cities

RNS Number : 9654R

Wizz Air Holdings PLC

15 December 2016

 

WIZZ AIR AWARDED 4 YEAR CONCESSION BY THE HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO CONNECT HUNGARY TO MACEDONIA, ALBANIA, KOSOVO, MONTENEGRO AND BOSNIA & HERCEGOVINA

Ticker:  WIZZ

Geneva, 15 December 2016: Wizz Air Holdings Plc ("Wizz Air", the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"), the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, announced today five new West Balkan routes from Budapest that will commence in April 2017. The new routes will connect Budapest with five capitals of countries in the West Balkan region, Skopje in Macedonia, Podgorica in Montenegro, Tirana in Albania, Prishtina in Kosovo and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Earlier this year the National Ministry of Development enacted that a public service obligation is imposed, and announced a public procurement tender for operating the routes connecting Hungary with important economic routes in the region. The tender invitation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, Wizz Air applied and was awarded the concession for four years.

The new routes will connect the countries directly, boost bi-directional tourism and establish an important link for trade and business between Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Speaking at a press conference in Budapest, József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, said:

"Today's announcement further underlines our commitment to Hungary as de facto Hungarian national carrier. In the past few months we have made several major announcements including basing a new aircraft at Budapest in April, revealing the unique Budapest livery that is designed to promote the city with Budapest 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Bid elements, announced four new routes to start in 2017 and today we add another 5 strategically important routes to our Budapest network.  Today's announcement is the result of a first ever example of imposing a public service obligation in aviation industry in Hungary. We believe that this unprecedented example will help stimulate economic and business relations between the countries as well as further improve accessibility to Budapest where WIZZ has the most diverse network, offering 59 routes to 28 countries." 

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About Wizz Air

Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, operates a fleet of 74 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 aircraft, and offers more than 480 routes from 27 bases, connecting 133 destinations across 40 countries. At Wizz Air, a team of approximately 3,000 aviation professionals delivers superior service and very low ticket prices making Wizz Air the preferred choice of 22.4 million passengers in the past twelve months ending 30 November 2016. Wizz Air is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker WIZZ and is included in the FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share Indices. Wizz Air is registered under the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), the global benchmark in airline safety recognition. The company was recently named 2016 Value Airline of the Year by the editors of Air Transport World, one of the leading airline trade magazines, as well as 2016 Low Cost Airline of the Year by the Center for Aviation (CAPA), leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence.

For more information:
Investors:	Iain Wetherall, Wizz Air:	[phone]
	Balint Veres, Wizz Air:	[phone]
Media:	Tamara Vallois, Wizz Air:	[phone]
	Edward Bridges / Jonathan Neilan, FTI Consulting LLP:	[phone]

 

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