Wizz Air Boosts Commitment to Debrecen

Central and Eastern European low-cost carrier Wizz Air has further strengthen its commitment to Hungary’s second largest city of Debrecen by introducing a third regular route to its network from the Eastern city and regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region. Although the carrier has a major base in Budapest it believes there is sufficient demand to offer schedules from Debrecen, despite being just two hours away from the capital city by road.

Wizz Air first launched operations from Debrecen International Airport in June 2012 with a link to its main network point, London Luton Airport in the UK. Flights to Eindhoven and Milan Malpensa followed from December 2012, although the Italian route closed in May 2013 when a Dortmund service was instead introduced, albeit this only lasted one summer schedule and ended in October 2013.

It is now returning to the Italy and the Milan market but instead of serving the busy Malpensa Airport is instead offering flights to Bergamo’s Caravaggio International Airport in Orio al Serio, a popular budget airline alternative to fly to Milan.

Wizz Air will offer a twice weekly schedule on the route from October 25, 2015 and believes it will complement its existing offering from Budapest to Milan Malpensa, given the touristic value of the Bergamo region and its proximity to both the Alps and the industrial cluster around Milan city.

“We continue staying committed and focused on developing air traffic at Debrecen Airport, which features excellent low cost facilities,” said József Ujhelyi, head of airport development, Wizz Air.

The new service will attract customers from Hajdú-Bihar county and also allow Debrecen to promote itself as a travel destination to North Italian consumers. Debrecen's proximity to Ukraine and Romania enables it to develop as an important trade centre and transport hub for the wider international region.

Wizz Air is the largest scheduled airline in Debrecen and Germania offers the only other scheduled flights with links to Dresden, Erfurt and Leipzig, according to the Debrecen Airport website. However, despite the limited scheduled offering, the airport is gearing itself up for a busy summer season with the introduction of numerous charter flights. These include Bulgarian Air Charter to Bourgas, FlyEgypt to Hurghada; Freebird Airlines to Antalya and SmartWings to Antalya, Corfu and Crete.

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…