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Start of Wizz Air
Wizz Air is founded in september 2003 by an Hungarian airline, named Malev. The first test flight took off from Katowice on May, 19th 2004. This was only 19 days after Poland joined the European Union The first real and commercial flight took off from Budapest on june, 23th 2004. -
More routes
From the bases in Budapest and Katowice Wizz Air flew to eight other European countries in 2005: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. With all the flights between this countries, there were a total of 36 routes in 2005. -
Expanding of services
Wizz Air expanded the services they offered to the passengers. New services that were provided in 2005 are: on-board catering, hotel bookings and car rental services. All these improvements are made to hopefully give the customer a good flight experience. -
Investing in new aircrafts
In 2006 Wizz Air made the decision to invest in new aircrafts. The company established an order to purchase twelve A320 aircrafts. This type of aircraft made it possible to transport 180 people in economy class. -
Third base
Next to the bases in Budapest, Hungary and Katowice, Poland, a third base was placed in Gdansk, Poland. This third base made it possible for Wizz Air to fly more routes through Europe. It became easier for potential customers to find a suitable flight for their needs. -
Enhancement of services for passengers
Wizz Air enhanced its services in the beginning of January in 2007. These new services include: a new boarding option with regard to choosing seats, priority boarding for disabled passengers and passengers with children, the option of purchasing travel insurance within the booking and new measures to increase the efficiency of check ins (so people only check in what they really need). -
Price for innovativeness
Wizz Air is considered to be a value oriented airline, which focuses itself on innovation. The CEO of Wizz Air, Jòzsef Vàradi, won in 2007 the price of the ‘Brave Innovator’ on the Ernst & Young, this confirms that the firm is focused on innovation. -
Start-up of Wizz Air Ukraine
Wizz Air Ukraine is founded in 2008, its based in Kiev and operates two aircraft domestically and internationally to 10 destinations in Europe. -
First international flight
Wizz Air is a pioneer in the low fare travelling for a high quality scene in the Ukrainian market, their first international flight from Kyiv to Londen Luton took off in 2008. Since then millions of passengers have taken advantage of this opportunityto travel throughout Europe on Wizz’s low-fare flights from and to Ukraine. The London-Kyiv flight is a key milestone of air service between Europe and Ukraine. -
Maybe not that profitable?
In November 2009 emerged that Wizz Air was significantly loss-making and had never made a profit in times they delayed the pay-back of €32 million of debt by five years, their operations total was €78 million. Because of this suggestions were made that the airline would file for bankruptcy. -
Relocating of business leadership
Wizz Air’ headquarter of strategic decisions was relocated from Budapest to Geneva. According to the Chief Communications Officer of Wizz Air, it is very important for one of the biggest European discount airlines to employ the best and most qualified professionals. A West-European head office could make WizzAir more attractive in the eyes of employees and increase the interest of Wizz Air’s investors, if the company is in a better-known Western European legal environment. -
Expansion of Budapest base
Wizz Air expands its basis in Budapest. New routes and increased frequencies of a number of existing services are launched by adding the fourth aircraft. According to the CEO József Váradi, the demand for Wizz Air flights has grown considerably over the past years, due to the continuous expansion and the weak financial performance of its competitors. Wizz Air targets more than 20% growth in Budapest for 2010. -
Macedonian market
Wizz Air enters the Macedonian market by opening a new route from Skopje to London-Luton, starting at 20 June. The flight had operated initially three times a week. -
Reserved seating
Wizz Air introduces a brand new service called ‘Wizz Reserved Seat’. By purchasing this service, passengers can get a guaranteed seat located in the first 2 rows of the aircraft and can board any time, knowing that their seat is waiting for them. -
Expansion of routes
After the bankruptcy of Malév, Wizz Air is the only airline in Hungary. Wizz Air immediately announced some new routes, which were former routes of Malév. In this year, a new airline is established: Sólyom Hungarian Airways. In order to defend its position in the market, Wizz Air responds with another expansion of flights. They also expand the base in Budapest. -
Wizz Exclusive Club
Wizz Air introduces the Wizz Exclusive Club. Being a club member gives you special offers, like discount on your flight, luggage and extra legroom. There is also a group discount. In this way, Wizz Air hopes to make it more attractive for families to travel with Wizz Air. The more flights the customers book, the more discount they get. So, customer loyalty is strengthened by the increasing of discounts. -
New cabin baggage policy
Wizz Air decides to change the cabin baggage policy, and is the first European airline to do this. Large cabin baggage get a fee of €10,00. Wizz Air hopes that this will influence customers to bring smaller bags and in turn reduces overcrowding aircraft cabins. Besides, Wizz Air uses the cost savings by giving a discount for all passengers. -
Mobile booking and check-in
Wizz Air decides to follow technological changes in its environment and makes it possible to book tickets from your mobile phone. This gives Wizz Air an advantage relative to other airlines. To promote this way of mobile booking, Wizz Air gives a 20% discount on flights booked on Thursday and Friday in the first week after the launching. -
Temporary suspension of a few routes in Ukraine
Wizz Air Ukraine makes several capacity adjustments, temporary suspending several flight in Ukraine, mainly from Lviv and Donetsk, suspending the Donetsk base entirely. The reason for this is a decreasing number of passengers in Ukraine, due to economic and political crisis in the country. -
Partnership with rentalcars.com
Wizz Air signed a contract with the worlds biggest car rental booking platform, ’rentalcars.com’.
During the fast flight booking process, passengers will be given the option to add their car rental, making a single payment when concluding their flight reservation. -
Wizz Air Ukraine is suspended
Wizz Air makes further reconstructing with its Ukrainian operation. Wizz Air Ukraine is suspended entirely and all Ukrainian routes are consolidated to the main Wizz Air route network. This action was needed because of the continued crisis and war in Ukraine, which made clear, that the interest in international flights will not grow in the near future. -
New Aircrafts
Wizz Air signs an agreement with Airbus, regarding the purchase of 110 new ’A321neo’ aircraft. The order is valued at $13.7 billion. These aircraft will enable Wizz Air to renew its existing fleet and provide additional capacity for further growth. The first of the new aircrafts are expected to start working in November 2015, and the last in 2024. The contract even enables the possibility of buying 90 additional aircrafts in the future.