Wizz Air to Expand Bulgarian Operations

European low-cost carrier, Wizz Air, has announced that it will expand its operations in Bulgaria next spring by adding a sixth aircraft to its Sofia base.

The new aircraft, which is set to arrive in March 2016, will support the new services between the Bulgarian capital and Alicante, Bristol, Hamburg Lubeck and Oslo Torp, which will be served with two weekly flights each.

Wizz has also announced frequency increase on the existing routes from Sofia to London Luton, Brussels Charleroi, Eindhoven and Malmo.

The airline first took off from Bulgaria almost ten year ago in September 2005 and has continued to grow its Sofia hub.

“Our capacity increase will create a number of new jobs at Wizz Air as well as in associated services and industries in Bulgarian capital and we expect to see many passengers on board of our planes,” said György Abrán, Chief Commercial Officer.

Earlier this year, Wizz Air added a fifth Airbus to its Sofia base, which arrived last week, and launched five new destinations. Starting July 27, 2015, the airline launched flights from Sofia to Bari, Cologne, Geneva, Naples, and Munich Memmingen.

In July, the carrier stated that its market share in terms of passengers carried to and from its Sofia base since the beginning of the year stood at 26.8 percent.

Elsewhere in Bulgaria, Wizz Air operates flights to and from Varna and Burgas, and now offers a total of 31 routes to 16 countries from the three Bulgarian airports.

The airline has significantly grown its capacity from Bulgaria since during its debut in 2005, offering less than 10,000 seats during its first year of operation, which has since grown to over 610,000 in 2014.

Wizz Air initially only began operating from Sofia, though added a number of routes from Burgas Airport in the southeast of Bulgaria in 2006. In 2007, the airline’s Sofia base had significantly grown over the two year period, offering a departure capacity of almost 70,000 seats. In the same year, Wizz Air grew its Bulgarian network even further, by adding Varna into its network.

This large seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast has witnessed a steady increase in the number of available departure seats, offering a capacity of almost 34,000 in 2014.

Poppy Marello

Poppy joined the Routesonline team after successfully completing a degree in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University. Poppy has a passion for…