Wizz Air announces new aviation jobs and routes for Budapest

By Catherine Deshayes on 6-Feb-2012

Low-fare Hungarian airline, Wizz Air, has announced a major program of investment at Budapest Airport, which will create around 700 new aviation jobs, both in the air and on the ground.

The airline has unveiled plans to invest around US$100 million in its operations at the airport. Its announcement comes hot on the heels of the collapse of the state-run airline, Malev, which sustain 40 per cent of the airport’s revenues.

The chief executive of Wizz Air, József Váradi, said that they would be basing two more Airbus A320 crafts at the base from March 2012, increasing their capacity there by 66 per cent. The number of flights available from the airport each week will nearly double from 67 to 129.

“Wizz Air remains highly committed to Hungary, our homeland,” Váradi said. “We have been growing year-on-year since the start of operation in 2004. We will continue to meet the increase in consumer demand and continue to offer new jobs in Budapest.”

A large number of the new routes will be to destinations in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, with London’s Luton Airport having a ‘triple daily’ service. The company has increased its projections for the number of passengers carried yearly from 1.4 million to 2 million.