Surprisingly Wizzair has announced a new service to LGW from Bucharest
http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/ne...lights-from-gatwick-to-bucharest/?
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RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
Should be a good move for W6. LGW caters to a fairly different market given its location way South of London, and it is the first link between LGW and OTP, which should help attract some leisure travelers from the South who otherwise found Luton a bit of a pain to get to. LGW's rail links have improved considerably over the years too, so the journey into Victoria or central London on the Thameslink is very convenient.
Also worth noting that OTP in general has seen very successful London-OTP routes already, so I don't see any reason for this to not do well.
Also worth noting that OTP in general has seen very successful London-OTP routes already, so I don't see any reason for this to not do well.
RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
| Quoting Jamie2k9 (Reply 2): Easyjet tried and failed on LGW-OTP no so long ago. |
I think the difference here is that W6 already has successful OTPLTN flights, and essentially this is just removing one of those frequencies onto a OTPLGW - that should give passengers additional flexibility in terms of choosing between the two cities. But let's see - LGW is a more expensive airport, so with higher fares vs LTN, I'd be curious to see if this route is as successful as the OTPLTN route.
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- gilesdavies
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RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
While the 4th daily frequency (late evening) of the LTN-OTP has been moved to LGW, and is reduced to three frequencies a day from the airport. if you look later in the year into the booking engine, LTN-OTP reverts back to going four times daily and the LGW-OTP is almost exactly the same times.
I assume maybe due to limited availability of aircraft they have moved the slot to LGW and as soon as they get another Airbus delivered that is when they can sustain both evening departures.
The demand of traffic Wizzair generates between Luton and Romania is incrediable, many of the cities they serve are now 2+ frequencies a day and many of these are getting upgraded to the A321 offering an extra 60 seats per flight!
You also have Blue Air operating daily from Luton to Bucharest, and lesser frequencies to Bacau and Lasi.
I assume maybe due to limited availability of aircraft they have moved the slot to LGW and as soon as they get another Airbus delivered that is when they can sustain both evening departures.
The demand of traffic Wizzair generates between Luton and Romania is incrediable, many of the cities they serve are now 2+ frequencies a day and many of these are getting upgraded to the A321 offering an extra 60 seats per flight!
You also have Blue Air operating daily from Luton to Bucharest, and lesser frequencies to Bacau and Lasi.
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- shamrock350
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RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
Interesting move by Wizzair, didn't they operate from Gatwick before? The Luton operation is very impressive, it's a sea of pink and purple every morning and isn't actually a base so I wonder if we could be seeing the start of something similar at Gatwick? A secondary London non-base perhaps.
So did Aer Lingus back in 2009 but we all know how that turned out.
| Quoting Jamie2k9 (Reply 2): Easyjet tried and failed on LGW-OTP no so long ago. |
So did Aer Lingus back in 2009 but we all know how that turned out.
RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
It is interesting how competition in London is heating up and everybody is starting routes out of their "turf".
British Airways in STN or LGW-JFK, Wizzair in LGW, Vueling, Thomas Cook and Transavia in LTN...
British Airways in STN or LGW-JFK, Wizzair in LGW, Vueling, Thomas Cook and Transavia in LTN...
RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
| Quoting Shamrock350 (Reply 6): Interesting move by Wizzair, didn't they operate from Gatwick before? The Luton operation is very impressive, it's a sea of pink and purple every morning and isn't actually a base so I wonder if we could be seeing the start of something similar at Gatwick? A secondary London non-base perhaps. |
Yes, they did operate at Gatwick before, but that was at a very different time when the UK + global economy began to crumble in 2008. Fortunately, that is not the case anymore!
The Luton routes are among the strongest in the W6 portfolio. I think it is only a matter of time before LTN becomes an official "base", though for all intents and purposes it counts as a non-traditional base given the volume of operations there. With the fleet expansion over the next few years, I think some of the additional capacity will most certainly go to LTN and LGW operations. London to CEE travel is booming, and with the price point offered by W6, it seems they should not have any issues sustaining these routes.
RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
| Quoting nd07 (Reply 8): I think it is only a matter of time before LTN becomes an official "base" |
I believe there has been times when Wizz has "based" an aircraft at LTN, as well as nightstopping. I think they'll continue to avoid basing crews there on a permanent basis due to the lower labour costs in CEE countries.
"Freddie Laker may be at peace with his Maker, but he is persona non grata with IATA."- HRH Duke of Edinburgh
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- gilesdavies
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RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
Luton is by far and away Wizzair's busiest airport it serves, including all its bases...
I don't believe they have any interest in starting any western European bases, due to the increased costs associated and is a key to them currently having the 2nd lowest costs of any airline in Europe...
It works very well for the airline, as places like Bulgaria and Romania are 2 hours ahead of UK time and when the outbound flight arrives into the UK it is only 7-8am and the flight leaving Luton is only 25 minutes later.
Every morning you have anything from 12-16 Wizzair aircraft on the ground at Luton during the morning rush.
Below is a link to an analysis report on Wizzair and their bases, this was published in May 2014 and Luton was then handling 230 flights a week from the airline, and I would make a guess that is far closer to 300 flights a week now. Budapest was the second largest airport handling flights from Wizzair and that was at 189, and is their largest base!
http://www.anna.aero/2014/05/21/wizz...th-birthday-69-million-passengers/
I don't believe they have any interest in starting any western European bases, due to the increased costs associated and is a key to them currently having the 2nd lowest costs of any airline in Europe...
It works very well for the airline, as places like Bulgaria and Romania are 2 hours ahead of UK time and when the outbound flight arrives into the UK it is only 7-8am and the flight leaving Luton is only 25 minutes later.
Every morning you have anything from 12-16 Wizzair aircraft on the ground at Luton during the morning rush.
Below is a link to an analysis report on Wizzair and their bases, this was published in May 2014 and Luton was then handling 230 flights a week from the airline, and I would make a guess that is far closer to 300 flights a week now. Budapest was the second largest airport handling flights from Wizzair and that was at 189, and is their largest base!
http://www.anna.aero/2014/05/21/wizz...th-birthday-69-million-passengers/
RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
So Wizzair has something like 40 flights a day from LTN? That's impressive. How does it compare to Easyjet's LTN presence?
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- gilesdavies
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RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
| Quoting vfw614 (Reply 11): So Wizzair has something like 40 flights a day from LTN? That's impressive. How does it compare to Easyjet's LTN presence? |
Just looked at Flight Radar 24 and there is 43 Wizzair and 67 easyJet Departures today, so you should be able to simply double that when you take into account Arrivals too...
86 WIzz Air movements
134 easyJet movements
42 Ryanair movements. (Just added it to the mix!)
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- BestWestern
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RE: Wizzair To Gatwick
And this could all grind to a halt if the UK exits the EU and reimposes work and travel visas.
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