Wizz Air boosting Israel activity
Hungarian low-cost airline to offer new destinations from Israel to Europe, including Prague, Kiev, Sofia
One of the companies planning to double the number of destinations it offers Israeli passengers is Hungarian airline Wizz Air, which began flying to Israel about a year ago. The company currently operates flights from Israel to six destinations in Europe, and in the coming months it plans to add at least five new destinations.
John Stephenson, executive vice president of Wizz Air, who arrived in Israel and addressed the Civil Aviation Conference at the Fisher Institute in Herzilya, revealed that the six destinations the company currently flies to from Israel (Budapest, Bucharest, Vilnius, Cluj-Napoca, Warsaw and Katowice) will be joined in the coming months by Prague, Sofia, Kiev, Donetsk and Lviv.
According to Stephenson, in the past 12 months the company has carried some 100,000 passengers from Israel to its destinations in Europe. The occupancy rate on its flights to and from Israel is around 60%, he said.
According to the executive vice president's forecast, upon launching the new routes the company will carry some 250,000 passengers between Israel and its different destinations in Europe.
Wizz Air is considered one of the fastest growing low-cost companies in Europe today. It operates a fleet of 45 Airbus A320 planes from 17 bases to more than 280 routes connecting 93 destinations across 35 countries.
Last year, the company carried some 12.3 million passengers.
Low-cost from Tel Aviv to Berlin too
Meanwhile, the easyJet airline officially announced the introduction of a Tel Aviv-Berlin route. The company will offer three weekly flights from Israel to the German capital starting in February 2014 for prices starting at €43.99 (about $60) from Tel Aviv to Berlin and €42.49 ($58) from Berlin to Tel Aviv.
The prices include port taxes but no extras like food, priority boarding, seat allocating, and baggage. Adding a suitcase weighing up to 20 kilograms (44 pounds) and selecting a seat may bring the cost to some €80 ($108) – almost double the ticket price.
As part of the growing competition in the low-cost flights market, El Al has also announced its plan to offer cheaper flights to several destinations in Europe. The flights will be operated in the company's Boeing 737-800 planes to destinations El Al already offers regular full-service flights to.
