Wizz Air

[Pontyboy]

Interesting there is a shuffle in the schedule. Faro has twice now become a casualty of cancellation. Not sure why but with Heraklion (bye bye Lanzarote till September) and corfu starting this week and the based aircraft now being used all day, and more crew being needed, I hope crew have been signed off in time to allow these extra flights to operate without hiccup!

 

[Rob c DSA]

I hope that this works out for Cardiff with Wizz but with what's gone off at DSA they'll quickly pull the base if things don't go well.

 

[Jerry]

There has been more crew trained and crew under going training for the Cardiff base I'm led to believe.

 

[Jerry]

I hope that this works out for Cardiff with Wizz but with what's gone off at DSA they'll quickly pull the base if things don't go well.

Finger's crossed they don't as they probably are Cardiffs last hope of a based LCC airline.

 

[geoff]

Let's hope CWL are on better terms with WIZZ, than WIZZ were with DSA.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Let's hope CWL are on better terms with WIZZ, than WIZZ were with DSA.

Don't be surprised if it's any different. Wizz are CWL's last hope and I imagine a good deal has been given to get them in. DSA had a similar agreement with Flybe for project blackbird. Both Airports are very similar.
Whether true or not it appears DSA weren't happy with the outcome of the Wizz base and the lack of commitment Wizz gave in not growing to their contractual agreement.
That could quite easily be the same scenario at CWL if the first aircraft base hasn't met expectations. Loads appear to be have been quite good but we won't know the facts until the next CAA figures are out. Even then bums on seats doesn't mean profitable, there's been some good cheap flight prices on Wizz. Great for passengers, not great for Wizz's bank balance. Hopefully they allow the base to grow.
It's much too early to say if a 2nd based aircraft will work, but that being said any plans for S23 are probably already being looked at. The other thing to be cautious of is them actually being able to crew a second based aircraft!

 

[Pontyboy]

TFS diverted to Luton last night. Looking at Flight radar it seems they tried a few times to get in. Same aircraft landed back at CWL 09.19. Weather that bad in June for a divert?

 

[Kevin Farnell]

I believe that visibility at CWL was around 350m at the time. There is an excellent website called Windy.com which allows you to view an enormous amount of weather information. In the following link, I've selected the website to show airports (note the little aeroplane symbol in the bottom right). You can then click on an airport and it will show both current weather and that for the last couple of hours or so (in plain English, you don't have to decipher METAR terminology) -

Windy as forecasted

Wind map and weather forecast

www.windy.com

Hope you find that useful.

Kevin

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that similar information can be found on FR24. Click on the airport and then select 'more', followed by 'weather'. This will give a list of METAR data for the airport which goes back much further than the Windy.com website. If you click on any of the lists, it will open up into an easier to understand version -

Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

The world’s most popular flight tracker. Track planes in real-time on our flight tracker map and get up-to-date flight status & airport information.

www.flightradar24.com

Kevin

 

[Pontyboy]

Heraklion cancelled this morning. Anyone have info on the crew situation at CWL. Is there enough crew for a full week schedule? Stand by crew employed or is it done on a shoe string?

 

[Jerry]

I have seen reports that some of the crew used aren't Cardiff based but I also think that we mustn't just jump to the conclusion that every time a flight is cancelled it's because of crew reasons with the airline. There are numerous other reasons why a flight maybe cancelled.

 

[geoff]

I see three flights cancelled this morning, WIZZ, Loganair, and KLM, the aviation industry is really struggling at the moment for a variety of reasons, I think a lot of people are holding off booking flights until they see things improving.

 

[Pontyboy]

Understand that Jerry but now look at the TFS - delayed 2 hours with an ETD of 18.45. Will this delay knock on to the 6 sector Tuesday. Why would there be a delay when the Heraklion didn’t operate? Looking like there isn’t enough crew. Something I highlighted a week ago.

 

[Jerry]

Why would there be a delay when the Heraklion didn’t operate?

That i don't know, could be ATC related, ground crew related, tech related, could be anything.

I see three flights cancelled this morning, WIZZ, Loganair, and KLM, the aviation industry is really struggling at the moment for a variety of reasons, I think a lot of people are holding off booking flights until they see things improving.

With KLM Schipol has put a restriction on movements limiting the amount of flights.

 

[Jerry]

I know it's a bit early to start talking about Summer 2023 for Wizz but I wonder if we might see a different schedule for them operationally. No 3 departure days and maybe a schedule that has the shorter flights in morning then longer flights in the afternoon. This might mean a loss of 2 weekly departures but maybe more operationally easier especially when it comes to delays.

 

[Rob c DSA]

Hope for Cardiff's sake they can put a plan together that works and it does not end the same way as it did at DSA, however I fear for the airport that it will.

 

[Jerry]

Well I hope it doesn't end the same way and that Wizz will give it time. They do seem to be having some teething problems and I just wonder if adjusting the schedule might help and I get the feeling we might see at least 1 route dropped and replaced with another.

 

[Jerry]

Well this evenings Faro has departed just under 3 hours after it's departure time but at least it has departed and not been cancelled. A knock on effect from Alicante and Mallorca departing late earlier today.

 

[Tinkerman]

Some nice pieces of information regarding the Wizz base in today’s Senedd meeting with CWL.

Seems as though the loads so far have been in line with all expectations, and they’ve noted that they’ve struggled to crew the base so far (But seems to be improving) and therefore to add routes, they’re probably going to have to chop and change the current offering.

I guess the biggest revelation was the fact that Spencer Birns is quoted as stating that Wizz expect the base to take around 3 years to become profitable for them.

 

[Jerry]

Seems as though the loads so far have been in line with all expectations

That's good news indeed.

they’re probably going to have to chop and change the current offering

I wouldn't be surprised if that happens or at least there is some sort of frequency change for Summer 2023 with some routes.