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Wizz Air anticipates 15-20% growth in passenger volume next year

Wizz Air anticipates 1520% growth in guest volume next year, its chief executive informed Reuters on Monday, with new lowcost paths to the Middle East, such as from Europe to the United Arab Emirates, adding an additional boost.

Internationally, we are expecting 15-20% (development), but I believe Abu Dhabi is going to grow beyond this, Jozsef Varadi said.

Hungary-based Wizz Air, which brought a record 62 million travelers throughout the year ended in March 2024, set up operations in the UAE in 2019 as a joint endeavor with Abu Dhabi's third greatest sovereign wealth fund ADQ.

In the Middle East, where issues of a broader flare of the war in Gaza have actually prompted global airline companies to suspend flights or avoid air area, Wizz Air is keeping an eye on every advancement, Varadi said.

He added that Wizz Air wants to develop Saudi Arabia as an incoming market rather than establishing a regional provider there.

The airline, which flies an all-Airbus fleet, recently revealed it would release its very first A321XLR, a single-aisle aircraft that will enable it to cover longer distances, to run a path between London's Gatwick airport and Saudi Arabia's Jeddah beginning with March 2025.

Another A321XLR airplane will run a day-to-day flight between Milan Malpensa airport and Abu Dhabi beginning with June next year.

Certainly we are extremely excited about Jeddah, Varadi said. We are seeing that more European operations might be flown incoming to Saudi in the future.

He added, nevertheless, that all new routes went through regulatory approvals and capacity restrictions due to troubles with Pratt & & Whitney engines, which required Wizz Air to ground part of its fleet, adding to a 44% drop in first-quarter operating earnings.

(source: Reuters)