Birmingham: Wizz Air Flights, New Routes & Schedule Updates

[Ray Finkle]

S19 is starting to become bookable, just Romania so far.

Bucharest remains 3x weekly on Tue, Thur and Sat.

Cluj remains 2x weekly on Wed and Sun.

Obviously very much subject to change.

 

[Brum X]

Looks like Poznan will be going after March 2019

Wizz air will be closing the Poznan base after W18/19

🙁

 

[Ray Finkle]

Looks like Poznan will be going after March 2019

Wizz air will be closing the Poznan base after W18/19

🙁

Chopin and Wroclaw are now bookable at the same frequencies as this summer.

Poznan finishes on 5th Jan.

It's a shame that we lose another route by default, it would be nice if Wizz could slot something else in there.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Chopin and Wroclaw are now bookable at the same frequencies as this summer.

Poznan finishes on 5th Jan.

It's a shame that we lose another route by default, it would be nice if Wizz could slot something else in there.

I'm very surprised that Ryanair doesn't operate Poznan.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I'm very surprised that Ryanair doesn't operate Poznan.

I won't hold my breath on that one.

Birmingham only appears to get growth when another airline arrives, I'm fully expecting Agadir to appear anytime soon 😏

 

[smithy108]

Confirmation of Poznan ending 5th January

Following Wizz Air service to/from Poznan will be discontinued:
Poznan – Birmingham last flight 05JAN19

 

[Ray Finkle]

Budapest is now bookable for S19, unsurprisingly it remains at 3x weekly.

 

[jfy1999]

A route continuing into next summer?

Break out the champagne! Long live the status quo!!

 

[Ianbutty]

A route continuing into next summer?

Break out the champagne! Long live the status quo!!

Drinking to that.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Great to see Cluj back so quickly although there is a bit of spin in the article about it being the sixth route considering Poznan ends next week.

Wizz Air announces new direct service from Birmingham Airport

Wizz Air recently relaunched a direct route to Romania’s second largest city, Cluj-Napoca from Birmingham Airport. To mark the occasion, an inaugural ceremony was held at the Airport where passengers and employees gathered to celebrate.

The 166 passengers departing on the 07:40 flight were greeted with a celebration for the new route which operates twice weekly on a Wednesday and Sunday.

Tom Screen, Acting Aviation Director said: “Officially welcoming this new Wizz Air route to Cluj-Napoca from Birmingham Airport is fantastic news. We are constantly working with airlines to ensure that where there is demand for a route we can provide enough choice to be able to meet it - whether this involves the introduction of additional direct services or an increase in the frequency of services.

“Cluj-Napoca is an exciting addition to our growing variety of direct services. Home to incredible architecture and gothic-style landmarks dating back to Saxon and Hungarian rule, vibrant nightlife and a wide range of forests and parks, Cluj-Napoca has something to offer everyone.

“We are pleased this route has been reintroduced and look forward to making the route a success for Wizz Air.”

Tamara Vallois, Head of Communications at Wizz Air, said: “We are happy to celebrate the commencement of an exciting new route at Birmingham Airport. Our newest route from Birmingham connects the city with Romania’s second largest city, the lively Cluj-Napoca, which brings an outstanding opportunity for the travellers who seek adventure to explore real Romanian hospitality and the vibe of Transylvania.

“Cluj-Napoca offers bubbling nightlife and historical sights, a perfect combination for a weekend trip to Central and Eastern Europe. We are sure that our UK customers will enjoy visiting this special city as well as Birmingham will get even more cosmopolitan with tourists visiting the region.

“We would like to thank Birmingham Airport and look forward to welcoming many passengers on board our sixth route from Birmingham.”
To find out about flights direct to Cluj-Napoca, please visit: https://wizzair.com/en-gb/flights/cluj-napoca#/

https://www.birminghamairport.co.uk...r&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SocialSignIn

 

[Brum X]

Great to see Wizz on the Cluj Route, i am confident they will make the route a success 🙂

 

[Vinny94]

Great stuff Wizz Air, let's hope this route proves to be a success.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Warsaw and Wroclaw are now bookable for winter, both at 2x weekly on Tue and Sat. I imagine that WAW will have the usual peak season Thur flights added in due course.

It's interesting that although not bookable, Poznan remains in the drop down menu. With Wizz looking to grow significantly in Poland I wonder if discussions are happening with the airport to possibly reopen the base.

 

[Brum X]

Warsaw and Wroclaw are now bookable for winter, both at 2x weekly on Tue and Sat. I imagine that WAW will have the usual peak season Thur flights added in due course.

It's interesting that although not bookable, Poznan remains in the drop down menu. With Wizz looking to grow significantly in Poland I wonder if discussions are happening with the airport to possibly reopen the base.

Thanks for the info Ray but it is about time we had more from Wizz or are they just going to be another Ryanair, loads of possibilities but never do anything about it ?

 

[rollo]

Thanks for the info Ray but it is about time we had more from Wizz or are they just going to be another Ryanair, loads of possibilities but never do anything about it ?

Good point there Brum X we seem to be able to attract the likes of Wizz, Ryanair and even Easyjet but never get the them to go full throttle and develop a really extensive netwwork for some reason?

 

[Ray Finkle]

For me it seems to be one of two major problems that BHX has.

Firstly keeping routes and airlines beyond a season or two! I can't think of another airport that comes anywhere close to BHX when it comes to losing so many routes as quickly as they arrive. The second is as above, working with airlines to maintain a steady and consistent growth. Too many just stagnate!

For me the perfect example of a success story is easyjet at Bristol. They have been adding an aircraft or two every year for a while now and have grown network of routes that we can only dream about BHX even coming close to having.

For BHX it seems to be all about Jet2 at the moment so we'll have to see if they fancy a bit more of a dabble into the city break market and whether they can be persuaded to try the likes of Lisbon, Athens, Valencia, Reykjavik etc. If not I fear we may have some very lean years ahead of us.

 

[JENNYJET]

What puzzles my little leaky brain is how airport and airline businesses coexist at all, especially BHX.

We had American Airlines come along when our own BA were operating the New York service, by 'own' I mean British Airways Birmingham as were emblazoned upon the aircraft based here.

Then we had Continental and then US AIRWAYS. But hey folks, don't look but they all gone. Not forgetting the likes of Wardair and CPAir serving Canada.

My fear now is that Wizz may think again about it's bases, either to consolidate into fewer or maintain status quo.

I admit to knowing fairly little of airline economics as my interest lies with Law. Yet can I be correct in thinking both parties entered into due diligence before any contracts were entered into? And if in the affirmative, can be possible a one or two seasons deal was deemed agreeable?

Was it the fast buck or the whiskey in the boardroom? Is this the state of affairs at BHX alone or do East Midlands/MAG, the Scottish Airports or even the Southeast airports conduct affairs in this way?

One observation to end with, when BHX secured Emirates from outwith the Southeast it scored a winner and they expanded rather than close the shop. Why is that?

 

[Coathanger16]

For me it seems to be one of two major problems that BHX has.

Firstly keeping routes and airlines beyond a season or two! I can't think of another airport that comes anywhere close to BHX when it comes to losing so many routes as quickly as they arrive. The second is as above, working with airlines to maintain a steady and consistent growth. Too many just stagnate!

For me the perfect example of a success story is easyjet at Bristol. They have been adding an aircraft or two every year for a while now and have grown network of routes that we can only dream about BHX even coming close to having.

For BHX it seems to be all about Jet2 at the moment so we'll have to see if they fancy a bit more of a dabble into the city break market and whether they can be persuaded to try the likes of Lisbon, Athens, Valencia, Reykjavik etc. If not I fear we may have some very lean years ahead of us.

I would tend to agree.

Even if Jet2 expand more into the city break market, the coverage will still likely be fairly minimal leaving a lot of destinations unserved.

The longer time goes on with most of BHX's airlines stagnating, the more I think any significant future growth lies with a particular orange airline, and hoping that now we have a CEO whose had experience with said airline, that he may be able to get them to come to BHX.

The current state of things also makes me think the 18mppa by 2033 seems perfectly reasonable, and not under ambitious in the slightest!

 

[Ianbutty]

Take a point in space. Add a world super hub 100 miles from it. Add a major hub 100 miles in the opposite direction. How successful will the point in the middle be in an era of over capacity and falling demand?

Airlines give BHX a chance probably get a nice incentive which once expires they do the maths and walk away and focus on the two nearby hubs.

Hate to bring geography into it again, but it is a factor and always has been.

And given the sorry state of the Euro industry, I agree 18 mppa is very realistic. Watch for lower growth expectations elsewhere.

As for Wizz...dont write them off (Mr Barton factor remember) but why expand when we have stuck two fingers up to their core customer base and they operate so close to Bhx?

On a positive note...Turkmenistan maintained their BHX operations whilst halting London and Germany. Oh yes...

 

[Ray Finkle]

The rest of the routes are now showing for winter.

Budapest is the usual 2x weekly with increases over Christmas.

Bucharest remains 3x weekly throughout.

Cluj carries on into winter at 2x weekly.

Someone must be reading this as Poznan has promptly disappeared 🤔