Wizz Air

[Nuffsaid]

This is excellent news. Wizz were the last throw of the dice for CWL. I wish the airport success with this airline. Now that easyJet are making their carryon baggage and fare structure the same as wizz there is little to differentiate the two airlines now.

 

[Jerry]

Some interesting points from this article
"Wizz Air has been attracted on commercial terms with no financial backing from the WG"

"If initial routes prove profitable the expectation is that Wizz will increase it presence at Cardiff Airport."

"It will also allow Cardiff to fight back against the loss of passengers in its core catchment area of South Wales to Bristol Airport, due to its low-cost carrier offers in EasyJet and Ryanair. Pre-pandemic more than 1.5 million passengers at Bristol originated from Wales."

Wizz Air launching new base from Cardiff Airport with nine routes

The new routes will launch from next spring but with hopes more will be added

t.co

 

[Marko1]

Wizz should be an excellent fit for Cardiff. Sun routes is where it does well. Surprised by the good frequencies too

 

[fly4gigs]

First flight to Heraklion is £36.99 one way. Not bad!

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

Sharm? Really would of thought Wizz would leave Egypt alone for the tour operators. Seat only to Egypt must be low take up. I hope it works for them.

 

[Jerry]

Sharm? Really would of thought Wizz would leave Egypt alone for the tour operators. Seat only to Egypt must be low take up. I hope it works for them.

It's surprising but it's quite possible that the route is operating so tour operators can use it for their packages and offer it from Cardiff in the winter as TUI will most likely drop it again.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Excellent news. It had to be Ryanair or Wizz in terms of passenger volume if CWL was to get itself really moving again.

As has been said in another post CWL does well with sun routes so these should be popular, especially as Thomas Cook had left a void. TFS and ACE but no LPA or FUE - seems odd especially FUE with no opposition.

If the first batch does well - normally I suspect it would but there is still the shadow of the virus on air travel next summer - summer 2022 could easily expect to see a bigger operation with the likes of LPA and FUE appearing.

At long last the good news that CWL followers have been hoping for. It might even stir Ryanair and TUI to look to their laurels.

 

[Jerry]

no LPA or FUE - seems odd especially FUE with no opposition.

It's probable that Corfu, Larnaca, Sharm el Sheikh and Heraklion were more of a priority to provide a good spread of destinations.
I expect if there is expansion it would be more sun routes Barcelona Girona Malta Gran Canaria Rhodes and Dalaman could be all future possibilities but I'm definitely getting ahead myself!
It's also curious how both BRS and CWL have essentially replaced Thomas Cook within a few weeks of each other.

 

[louis_walton]

Very exciting news for CWL! The future surprisingly is looking quiet bright - during such a bleak time that is.

 

[Seasider]

Just to add my congratulations to Cardiff Airport and its supporters, something to cheer Gerry up, he deserves it!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It's probable that Corfu, Larnaca, Sharm el Sheikh and Heraklion were more of a priority to provide a good spread of destinations.
I expect if there is expansion it would be more sun routes Barcelona Girona Malta Gran Canaria Rhodes and Dalaman could be all future possibilities but I'm definitely getting ahead myself!
It's also curious how both BRS and CWL have essentially replaced Thomas Cook within a few weeks of each other.

It's better than TCX though isn't it? There was no TCX winter presence at CWL was there?

 

[Jerry]

It's better than TCX though isn't it? There was no TCX winter presence at CWL was there?

No there wasn't they were April to November. It'll be interesting to see how the routes fare in winter as that tends to be considered CWLs achilles heel.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I wonder if Ryanair and/or TUI had any thoughts of expanding summer 2021 sun routes and if they did whether Wizz's arrival will have altered anything they might have been planning. There seems to be an increasing train of thought in the industry that summer 2021 will rely heavily on holidays to the sun with so many people desperate to get away after the misery of this year. So there might be room yet for more Ryanair and/or TUI.

 

[Brum X]

Congratulations CWL

 

[Jerry]

I wonder if Ryanair and/or TUI had any thoughts of expanding summer 2021 sun routes and if they did whether Wizz's arrival will have altered anything they might have been planning. There seems to be an increasing train of thought in the industry that summer 2021 will rely heavily on holidays to the sun with so many people desperate to get away after the misery of this year. So there might be room yet for more Ryanair and/or TUI.

I'd have thought that TUI wouldn't be so much worried about Wizz and i'd be very surprised if they added more especially with Jet2 in the area now, i'd expect that they'll want to fill what they have after such a turbulent year. Ryanair though are a bit more unpredictable, they could expand or pull out all together!

 

[geoff]

Do Wizz Air sell any of their seats to tour companies, it would certainly help the winter numbers from CWL if they did.

 

[bluebols]

A week in Sharm in the winter will be great.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It's also curious how both BRS and CWL have essentially replaced Thomas Cook within a few weeks of each other.

I imagine that both airports talked to both airlines. It would be interesting to know at what point CWL knew they weren't getting Jet2 and BRS that they weren't getting Wizz.

Obviously Wizz will bring in punters through the door that are needed to boost the airport's needs. Last year an analyst told one of the meetings of the Westminster Welsh Affairs Committee or one of the Senedd committees (I forget which) that CWL's fixed costs, many set by regulatory demands, would cease to be a disproportionate burden once the airport reached the 2 mppa level.

Whilst holiday routes are clearly good for airport finances Wales as a country needs business and city routes as well. It must be hoped that Wizz Air UK grows at the airport and in time branches out into such routes as well as the high volume holiday routes.

Also interesting that the two non-London UK bases set up by Wizz are DSA and CWL, the two airports that entered into the Project Blackbird fiasco (as it turned out) with Flybe. Wizz Air UK seems to be eschewing the larger non-London airports which might suggest they view the likes of DSA and CWL as fertile ground for steady expansion of their services with little competition.

It has to be hoped that this works out better for CWL than bmibaby and Flybe. If it does and, Covid apart, there is absolutely no reason why it should not, CWL could be through that 2 million barrier and on its way to the next milestone quickly once the Covid effects on the industry are shaken off.

 

[Severn]

Great news for Cardiff, the future is looking good!

As usual, a great analysis has been done by Anna.aero - interesting to see all nine routes will have competition. I’m sure Wizz will do well out of CWL.

anna.aero | Temporarily Unavailable

 

[Jerry]

Quoted from the article Severn posted.
"Wizz Air is very much taking the fight to TUI, with the pair competing on all nine routes. They’ll have the same frequency on three routes, Wizz Air will have more on five, and TUI will have more to just one: Palma.

Three routes – Alicante, Faro, Palma – will have three airlines."
Personally I see them as more complementing TUI than being a competitor. For Ryanair and Vueling yes they are competition but they are operating on routes that should be able in summer at least to warrant the extra capacity.
their analysis proves correct!
"It is likely that Cardiff will get a second aircraft too, unless of course the deal it got at the airport is so good to offset this disadvantage."
It's also been pointed out elsewhere that DSA got a 2nd based aircraft announced 3 weeks after the first. That would be a nice Xmas present!