Wizz Air (W6/WZZ) was founded in September 2003 with lead investment from Indigo Partners, beginning operations from Katowice Airport (KTW) in May 2004. Since then it has grown to become a leading ultra low-cost carrier in Europe, and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2015. The airline was one of the few to grow its operation during the Covid19 pandemic, and the past seven years have seen Wizz Air expand its permanent footing in Europe and beyond.
Fleet size 211
Number of destinations 194
Number of routes 950
Number of bases 59
Wizz Air’s four airlines
Today, the carrier operates four airlines, each with individual Air Operator Certificates (AOCs).
- The airline launched Wizz Air UK (W9/WUK) 2018 to both capitalize on landing slots left by the demise of Monarch Airlines and negate the impacts of Brexit. Wizz Air UK’s bases are London Luton Airport (LTN) and London Gatwick Airport (LGW).
- This was followed by Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (5W/WAZ), which received its AOC in 2020 with a single base at Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH).
- Most recently, the company launched Wizz Air Malta (W4/WMT), which received its AOC in 2022. This division of the company was designed to support the carrier’s operational expansion within the European Union. The Maltese subsidiary was granted an AOC with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) but an Operating License (“OL”) with the Maltese Civil Aviation Directorate (CAD), meaning Wizz Air could operate multiple AOCs based in different Member States, but be overseen by the same Competent Authority.
The Wizz Air fleet
As of early May 2023, the Wizz Air fleet consists of 211 aircraft. Wizz is already dominated by Airbus NEO aircraft (including all 4 airlines). 63% of the total fleet is composed of NEO aircraft, with 59% of the fleet being made up of Airbus A321neo aircraft.
| Airline | IATA Code | ICAO Code | Radio Callsign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wizz Air Hungary | W6 | WZZ | WIZZ AIR |
| Wizz Air UK | W9 | WUK | WIZZ GO |
| Wizz Air Abu Dhabi | 5W | WAD | WIZZ SKY |
| Wizz Air Malta | W4 | WMT | WIZZ AIR MALTA |
Wizz Air has been very vocal about its focus on the A321neo as part of their well publicized ‘Fly the Greenest’ drive for a more sustainable fleet. This is supported by a high density seating configuration (with 239 seats on the A321) and high seat occupancy of around 91%. This means that Wizz Air’s CO2 emissions per seat per mile are among the lowest in their category.
According to data from IBA NetZero – Wizz Air’s operations have emitted 102.62 grams of CO2 per available seat mile so far in 2024. By comparison, Ryanair operations averaged 122.3 grams, and British Airways averaged 161.5 grams. Available seat miles refer to the total seat miles available for purchase on an airline (calculated by multiplying the number of miles a given airplane will be flying by the number of seats available for a given flight). As low cost carriers tend to have such high density cabins, they typically perform better than legacy carriers on this measure.
Wizz Air have not been immune to the issues faced by all operators of aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney geared Turbofan (GTF) engines. Around 20% of the fleet is grounded as a result of these issues, brought about by imperfections discovered in metals that require around 700 engines to be inspected worldwide. Wizz Air has employed a more flexible fleet planning strategy to minimise the impact of these groundings.
How many flights does each airline make in a year?
Over 75% of Wizz Air’s flights in the past 365 days were operated by Wizz Air or Wizz Air Malta. The UK and Abu Dhabi AOCs make up a nearly even remainder.
Wizz Air’s business model focuses on providing ultra low cost flights to a mix of primary, secondary and regional airports. They have made no secret of their sustainability goals, with the target of having 63% of their all Airbus fleet to be made up of New Engine option (NEO) aircraft by the end of 2024.
Where are Wizz Air’s bases?
Wizz Air currently has 59 base airports spread across 20 countries. The airline maintains the highest number of bases in Romania (6 bases) and Italy (5 bases).
Country Base Airports
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (AUH)
Albania Tirana (TIA)
Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo (SJJ), Tuzla (TZL)
Bulgaria Bourgas (BOJ), Sofia (SOF), Varna (VAR)
Cyprus Larnaca (LCA)
Georgia Kutaisi (KUT)
Hungary Budapest (BUD), Debrecen (DEB)
Italy Bari (BRI), Catania (CTA), Milan Malpensa (MXP), Naples (NAP), Rome Fiumicino (FCO)
Kosovo Pristina (PRN)
North Macedonia Skopje (SKP)
Poland Gdańsk (GDN), Warsaw Chopin (WAW), Wrocław (WRO), Krakow (KRK)
Romania Bacău (BCM), Cluj-Napoca (CLJ), Craiova (CRA), Iasi (IAS), Suceava (SCV), Timișoara (TSR)
Serbia Belgrade (BEG)
Ukraine Lviv (LWO) – Temporarily closed due to conflict
United Kingdom London Gatwick (LGW), London Luton (LTN)
Austria Vienna (VIE)
Lithuania Vilnius (VNO)
Wizz Air’s most visited airports
Wizz Air currently operates flights to a total 218 airports. Here are some of the most popular.
The top 5 airports visited by Wizz Air aircraft in the past 12 months are London Luton (LTN), Tirana (TIA), Rome Fiumicino (FCO), Warsaw Chopin (WAW) and Abu Dhabi (AUH).
Flightradar24 data shows that Eindhoven Airport (EIN), Memmingen Airport (FMM), Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY), Brussels Charleroi Airport (CRL) and Tel Aviv (TLV) saw the most Wizz Air flights in the past 12 months. We have excluded the bases above to get a clearer view of Wizz Air’s destinations outside their regular bases.
What does 1 month of Wizz Air flights look like?
We used our data to create this visualization of a month of Wizz Air operations. Each color represents a different Wizz Air airline – Wizz Air (pink), Wizz Air UK (dark blue), Wizz Air Malta (white), and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (light blue).
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Wizz Air remains one of the most prolific and rapidly growing carriers in Europe. What has your experience been when flying with Wizz Air? Let us know in the comments.
Cover photo: Sascha Kamrau, JetPhotos
