Central and Eastern European carrier, Wizz Air, has announced that it will bring forward the opening of a single aircraft base at Košice International Airport by three months due to strong demand on the two new routes it plans to offer from Slovakia’s second city and strong growth of its existing link to London.
The budget carrier revealed earlier this year that it would base one of its Airbus A320s at the airport from September 2015, initially bringing 30 direct jobs and two new routes to Milan Bergamo in Italy, and Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport in the UK. These would complement its existing link from London Luton which was introduced in October 2013.
However, reflecting customer demand, rather than introduce the twice weekly routes to Bergamo and Doncaster Sheffield from September 14, 2015 and September 26, 2015, they will instead launch from June 5, 2015 and June 7, 2015, respectively.
"We’re delighted that customer demand has led Wizz Air to open its base in Kosice earlier than planned. This is great news for the city region that the North of England’s only service to Kosice will be flying from Doncaster earlier than planned," said Chris Harcombe, head of aviation development, Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
Both of the new destinations will be served on a twice weekly schedule as originally planned, but Wizz Air has confirmed the change will also support a growth in frequency on the existing London Luton route to ten times weekly.
Wizz Air launched operations in Slovakia less than two years ago and already carried approaching 150,000 passengers on its routes to Kosice and Poprad routes. The country will be the 12th in Central and Eastern Europe where it has established based operations.
Košice International Airport is among the fastest growing airports in Europe. It achieved a 50 per cent increase in passenger traffic in 2014 compared to the previous year, also recording its strongest charter season in its history, and a 13 per cent increase in aircraft movements for the year.
The growth in 2014 increased passenger traffic above the 350,000; the airport’s highest annual figure since 2007 and 2008 when low-cost carrier SkyEurope Airlines had provided an expanded offering from the airport, ahead of its closure in 2009.
In the chart, below, we look more closely at annual passenger demand at Košice International Airport, highlighting the recent growth in traffic following the arrival of Wizz Air at the facility.
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