Wizz Air

[CraigW92]

Hello all been away a while , hope everyone is well

I’ve found this whole Wizz journey quite an interesting one especially since the launch, now theres doubt that that a low cost airline was/is exactly what Cardiff needs, I think there’s been good moments and bad moments that involve the airline and also the airport, a new airline coming to the airport will inevitably have a tricky few years setting up, cast our minds back to when Vueling arrived and Alex cruz basically said that with each passing month or season that things were getting better, with the exception of BCN ( thrown under the bus timing wise ) that I thought Wizz would follow a very similar pattern of building the brand name up through a mixture of word of mouth and also a solid advertising campaign that would alert and push people to use the airline more as time went on

Now after everything that has gone on this summer can we say the Wizz brand is not already tarnished ? Unfortunately I think it has a little , seemingly every airline has it problems, confidence is an important factor , I think what has made the Wizz issues stand out with a host of cancelations is the fact that they were a main player at a relatively small airport so it makes it worse, that said I dont think they have helped themselves at all, poor scheduling and lack of customer service won’t help bookings going forward , however a clean break from any issues this winter both aviation and domestic related and going into a summer season where hopefully things are better across the sector with employment seems like the best option for both parties and hopefully start to repair confidence next summer, think the last thing we could have done with was issues in the winter timetable , from a positive point of view original LFs have been encouraging with as well as having certain flights cancelled there has been plenty of passengers who have enjoyed Wizz this year so far so that will also help going forward

its interesting the article posted by Ian from travel weekly and some of the quotes “It takes time to build up sustainable operations at any base and we are prepared to build up operations at Cardiff over the long term.” What do we believe will happen next ? i personally believe the base needs to be relaunched with new destinations added for next summer to give it a fresh kick MXP and OTP have recently been announced as new winter destinations , could we see these into the summer months with potentially more added from away based aircraft like FCO ? or will they look to FR now ? Do we think the currrent timetable is too tight on some days for one aircraft ?

I believe CWL and Wizz will eventually work in the end , and I think it has too , there will be chopping and changing of routes until it gets settled and hopefully we can see progressive growth going forward

Related and also very important , what has happened to the airports marketing and social media channels ? It’s an absolute shadow of what it once was, I don’t think the marketing of an airline with a host of new routes has been anywhere near good enough I don’t believe the two new routes have been announced yet have they online ? , you see airports smaller like CWL, posting daily updates of where you’ve can fly etc and engaging into promoting what’s on offer, CWL seems very stagnant and not just with Wizz either , that needs addressing as a matter of urgency

ld be interested to hear other users thoughts of potential scenarios going forward

 

[Pontyboy]

I think a lot can be said for TUI and EasyJet this year. Lots of disappointed customers but many many more happy customers that got away fine. People will forget the problems down the line, especially if a new route or two is added between the winter and the base opening in March. Rome would be great - tried and tested and performed well for Flybe. Malta also tried and tested with Ryanair, Tui. Gran Canaria and fuerteventura would both work for a low cost carrier.

 

[Pontyboy]

As a further note, I’m a little surprised a ski route wasn’t added to the original winter schedule - even a Geneva at 1-2 weekly would’ve created some good demand.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Now after everything that has gone on this summer can we say the Wizz brand is not already tarnished ? Unfortunately I think it has a little , seemingly every airline has it problems, confidence is an important factor , I think what has made the Wizz issues stand out with a host of cancelations is the fact that they were a main player at a relatively small airport so it makes it worse, that said I dont think they have helped themselves at all, poor scheduling and lack of customer service won’t help bookings going forward , however a clean break from any issues this winter both aviation and domestic related and going into a summer season where hopefully things are better across the sector with employment seems like the best option for both parties and hopefully start to repair confidence next summer, think the last thing we could have done with was issues in the winter timetable , from a positive point of view original LFs have been encouraging with as well as having certain flights cancelled there has been plenty of passengers who have enjoyed Wizz this year so far so that will also help going forward

Take a look at Ryanair. Their customer service until recent years was terrible. They were known for not caring about their customers and people always getting caught out by not reading and following their policies. However in a way Wizz are slightly different as it's their customer service that lacks during disruption. Whereas Ryanair have always been pretty good at recovering disruption and avoiding cancellations. Wizz UK is also still relatively small in comparison to Wizz the parent Airline. As Wizz UK grows, mainly in Luton and Gatwick, there may be more scope to recover in disruption utilising a bigger Wizz UK fleet.
As you say, there's many people that have flown without issue and I think this is where Aviation forums get their ass in the hands and make things out to be a lot worse than they are. Wizz have cancelled about what, about 10, maybe 15 return flights? In the grand scheme of things that has affected a few thousand people. But they fly 16 return flights a WEEK, many without issue. So there's been tens of thousands that have flown without issue.
By comparisons Easyjet has cancelled thousands of flights this summer, and probably over a hundred of those at Bristol.
The issue with Wizz at CWL is they aren't setup to deal with disruption. There's lower ferquencies than what EZY offer at BRS on many routes, so there's more options. With Wizz, being a small base, the next options are often days away, if even available at all.
Ultimately people will soon forget when the £30 return flight comes out next summer. They did with Ryanair.

its interesting the article posted by Ian from travel weekly and some of the quotes “It takes time to build up sustainable operations at any base and we are prepared to build up operations at Cardiff over the long term.” What do we believe will happen next ? i personally believe the base needs to be relaunched with new destinations added for next summer to give it a fresh kick MXP and OTP have recently been announced as new winter destinations , could we see these into the summer months with potentially more added from away based aircraft like FCO ? or will they look to FR now ? Do we think the currrent timetable is too tight on some days for one aircraft ?

Hopefully a 2 aircraft base. I really do hope MXP and OTP work, but i fear they are just a reaction to the base closure. It's clear the base is not fully recruited for and they have been using crews from other bases. Hopefully by next summer they will have more crews online, but there is still a risk that if a 2nd based aircraft is brought in that they need to fully recruit for both aircraft. It will though give more flexibility. A bigger base always performs better and creates more operational flexibility.
For now I can see more sun routes being added, another Greek destination, maybe Rhodes, Las Palmas, maybe Ibiza and even Malaga. I can see Alicante, Palma and Faro frequencies increasing, even if just one more flight each a week, and possibly another Italian route, Rome? Incorporate MXP and OTP into the based aircraft schedule and it should be a full schedule.

Although Wizz's own recruitment issues have been clear to see, it's also worth noting that some of the cancellations this year have actually been caused by terrible slots being picked up because of ATC restrictions en route. This has resulted in the whole crew exceeding hours. It's reported ATC across Europe has faced recruitment issues as well. So hopefully there will be more operational resilience across the whole industry.

 

[geoff]

Cwl twitter account announcing WIZZ Air flights to Milan and Bucharest, for £20.99 between 30/10 and 30/11.

 

[IanFarquharson]

Cwl twitter account announcing WIZZ Air flights to Milan and Bucharest, for £20.99 between 30/10 and 30/11.

That's not a good sign !

 

[Jerry]

That's not a good sign !

Why?

 

[CWL94]

That's not a good sign !

It was a Wizz promo for all new routes from the UK; not just CWL related! So it’s not indicative of poor bookings!

 

[Jerry]

And considering they're new routes just gone on sale, cheap prices would be offered to get people to book.

 

[Jarvo]

The Bucharest route in particular is looking really grim with £21 flights the norm and so far on the seat map just 27 pax allocated for the inaugural flight. May be a surprise if it takes off at all tbh with Wizz making the promise not to fly empty planes as part of their green commitment.

 

[Jerry]

Elsewhere it was mentioned that the Milan and Bucharest routes were part of the contract between the airport and Wizz so there is a Wizz presence over the winter. Also the route has only recently gone onsale so will take a while to develop.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

The Bucharest route in particular is looking really grim with £21 flights the norm and so far on the seat map just 27 pax allocated for the inaugural flight. May be a surprise if it takes off at all tbh with Wizz making the promise not to fly empty planes as part of their green commitment.

These flights are never going to be full. Milan will probably do better than Bucharest but as Jerry says, this was probably just a reaction to the base being pulled and minimal damage to Wizz's bank balance.

The first flights are in November, which is when demand for flights from any Airport or to any destination is at it's lowest. Summer is over and Christmas is coming up. Also looking at the seatmap 2 months ahead means nothing to the actual booked figure. There could be many more booked on the flight that don't yet have an allocated seat or paid for one. Also if people are booking the Flex tickets which gives them the chance to reserve one of those 27 seats, then they are paying £100 each way.

 

[geoff]

Nice to see that CWL has put news of the new WIZZ winter services in the section of the airport web site, first entry since the 27th June.

 

[Jerry]

Yep it is nice too see!

 

[Tinkerman]

Reading an article this morning that Wizz Air have begun preliminary network planning for their A321XLR’s in 2024 from UK airports.

They have categorically ruled out any transatlantic services, but are looking at the Middle East. No doubt CWL’s team are on the case with this, but I feel a solid S23 will be required first and foremost.

 

[CWL94]

Wizz have removed flights to MXP and OTP between 8th Nov until 14th December!

Clearly bookings are very poor! Doesn’t help the Wizz reputation at CWL though!

 

[Jerry]

That's a shame but November is always one of the quieter months for Cardiff. Hopefully both routes will get decent loads for December.

 

[Pontyboy]

if you think of the routes Wizz could’ve operated then Milan and Bucharest are definitely not in the top 20. Fair enough they decided to pull the base for winter but why pick two routes that simply weren’t going to work.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

if you think of the routes Wizz could’ve operated then Milan and Bucharest are definitely not in the top 20. Fair enough they decided to pull the base for winter but why pick two routes that simply weren’t going to work.

Because they are already big bases for them. The routes that would work from CWL in Winter Wizz don't base at.

 

[Jarvo]

The Bucharest route in particular is looking really grim with £21 flights the norm and so far on the seat map just 27 pax allocated for the inaugural flight. May be a surprise if it takes off at all tbh with Wizz making the promise not to fly empty planes as part of their green commitment.

Kind of expected this, but couldn't resist the price of the flights. Now hundreds of pounds in the hole thanks to accommodation in Bucharest. Pretty peeved with Wizz for starting a route that was niche and then dropping it with 17 days warning.