Wizz Air forecasts ‘revolutionary’ drop in fares to Middle East

Low-cost airline MD says new fleet will drive down prices

Wizz Air’s UK Managing Director Marion Geoffroy says its new Airbus aircraft will drive down ticket prices and open up new routes to the Gulf region.

According to Geoffroy, fares for flights between Britain and the Middle East could drop to a quarter of their current levels once the low-cost airline takes delivery of its new Airbus aircraft.

The low-cost carrier, which is based in Hungary, has ordered 47 of the A321XLR planes from Airbus. These aircraft have higher fuel capacity and can fly non-stop for 11 hours, burning up to 30% less fuel per seat than previous-generation aircraft.

The new A321XLRs are expected to arrive in February 2025, enabling the airline to pursue new routes from the UK to the Middle East, adding to the one it already operates between Europe and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.

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Geoffroy said the planes would ‘revolutionise’ air travel when it came to ticket pricing: "We would be offering a completely different product [from other airlines], a point-to-point product from the UK to the Middle East. If you take, for example, Luton to Amman, when we entered the market, we were three or four times cheaper compared to the incumbent carriers. So, that would probably be the scale.

"We will be looking at connecting the UK with the GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council] region and the Middle East, where we have a strong brand already and sister airline, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.

"This is a very important region for us. From the UK, that would definitely be a potential network that we would explore, because it makes a lot of sense to be connecting places where we do have a brand, presence and customers."

For more information, visit www.wizzair.com

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