Wizz Air announced changes to its operations following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, withdrawing from its website the scheduling of flights to both countries. In turn, Moldova, located south of Ukraine, will have operations suspended until mid-year.
The ultra-low-cost airline is one of the companies with the largest presence in this region of Europe, so the conflict has severely damaged it. In just two weeks it lost 39% of its shares on the London Stock Exchange.
In Ukraine, it will permanently close its four bases from where it operated more than 40 routes representing 27% of the market, and where it competed with Ryanair, Bees Airline, and SkyUp in its segment.
The company has trapped four Airbus A320s in the country and is awaiting a “safe evacuation window” to remove them. It also said it is in contact with employees and their families to provide a support plan, and that all will be offered new employment at other bases.
It is also offering new jobs with relocation support for Ukrainians wishing to join Wizz Air.
Wizz Air’s Russian schedule included flights from Hungary (Budapest and Debrecen) to Kazan, Moscow, and St. Petersburg; Romania to St. Petersburg and London to Moscow.
Another change is that Wizz Air moved its base in Chisinau, Moldova, 100 kilometers away, to Iasi, Romania. Following the outbreak of conflicts in neighboring Ukraine, Moldova was forced to close its airspace for security reasons.
According to the company, the change is until May 31, 2022.
Iasi (IAS) will have flights to:
- Dortmund (DTM), Germany;
- Brussels/Charleroi (CRL), Belgium;
- Larnaca (LCA), Cyprus;
- Billund (BLL), Denmark;
- Madrid (MAD) and Barcelona (BCN), Spain;
- Paris/Beauvais (BVA), France;
- Tel Aviv (TLV), Israel;
- Bari (BRI), Catania (CTA), Bologna (BLQ), Rome/Fiumicino (FCO), Turin (TRN), Treviso (TSF), Milan/Bergamo Orio al Serio (BGY) in Italy;
- Eindhoven (EIN) in the Netherlands;
- Liverpool (LPL) and London/Luton (LTN) in the United Kingdom.
