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Poland - News and Tourist Information - 10/08/04

WizzAir News

WARSAW : Low-cost Hungarian airline WizzAir said it would launch new services on Tuesday to London from Warsaw and the northern Polish city of Gdansk.

Officials of the London-based company, which has shareholders in 20 mainly European countries, said new flights are also planned from September 15 to Copenhagen and Malmo in Sweden, from Warsaw, Gdansk and the southern industrial city of Katowice.

Since launching its services in Poland in May, WizzAir has already carried around 100,000 passengers from Poland and Hungary to several European cities, including Brussels, London and Dortmund in Germany.

Of the 144 flights a week the airline operates, 88 are from Poland.

Company president Jozef Varadi told a news conference WizzAir was also planning to expand its capital to 40 million euros (49.1 million dollars) from seven million euros.

"We have the agreement and it requires a lot of formalities to be completed", Varadi, the former president of Hungarian airline Malev said.

WizzAir uses only 180-seat Airbus A320 planes, and plans to have eight aircraft in operation by the end of the year.

Varadi described the Polish market of nearly 40 million consumers as "very attractive" and made clear that his airline was determined to spread its wings even further.

"As soon as Bulgaria and Romania sign "open skies" agreements WizzAir intends to expand its activities to these markets," he told AFP. "We are also very interested in Russia, but it remains a market which is difficult to penetrate."

WizzAir faces strong competition on the low-cost market against easyJet and Air Polonia, which have been operating for the past few months in Poland.

Poland's national carrier Lot is also preparing to launch its own its low-cost company.

"In the long run, probably only three or five companies will remain on the market. It will be the same for national companies in central Europe," he said.