Budget airline Wizz Air has announced plans to reduce the number of flights from Gatwick Airport, moving capacity to its Luton base in a bid to improve profitability. The Hungarian carrier's chief executive, József Váradi, confirmed that the airline is currently losing money at Britain's second busiest airport due to higher costs.
Wizz Air will begin the process by relocating a single aircraft from Gatwick to Luton, which Mr Váradi described as an 'ongoing process' to gradually shift the fleet. 'Gatwick is expensive and we have been operating an inferior set of slots there,' he told The Telegraph. 'We think that we can enhance financial performance by operating that capacity from Luton.'
The move follows the closure of Wizz Air's Abu Dhabi offshoot in July and the scrapping of its Vienna base, attributed to 'airport costs and taxes'. Mr Váradi stressed that the airline does not plan to leave Gatwick entirely, but aims to 'optimise' its presence. 'You have to churn your network for profit. We are simply more efficient financially in Luton,' he added.
Separately, Wizz Air has introduced a new seating option called 'Wizz Class', allowing passengers to pay extra for a row with an unoccupied middle seat, priority boarding, a carry-on bag and overhead bin space. The airline said the product is 'designed to meet the demand of travellers seeking more space, comfort and a quicker exit'. Wizz Class will be available on selected flights from London, Rome, Warsaw, Bucharest and Budapest from December.
