Wizz Air, the Hungarian low cost airline, invested more than $100 million in a new base at Lviv International Airport, which it is planning to open on July 1, 2020, Wizz Air Chief Commercial Officer George Michalopoulos said.
“When we usually open
a new base, this is mainly a large investment. More than $100 million is a very significant investment and long-term ones. Thus, opening the base is a good investment for the local economy. It will take several years to get them back,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
Michalopoulos said that at present the company is not going to launch internal flights in Ukraine.
“Now we are ready to focus on expansion in Ukraine, but we focus only on international flights,” he said.
Concerning the aircraft that will be placed in Lviv, the chief commercial officer said that so far there will be just one aircraft (Airbus A320), but gradually the number will increase.
“We have one of the largest Airbus aircraft depots and we continue to supply them. A plane in Lviv is our new plane. I cannot say when it will be next, but it will certainly happen in the next few years,” he said.
He also said that the company still has many opportunities for expansion with Wizz Air Hungary and the renewal of the division of Wizz Air Ukraine is not yet necessary.
“The base in Lviv is already the second base after the one in Kyiv that we opened in Ukraine. We will continue to invest in Ukraine and continue to launch new services. The situation with coronavirus [COVID-19] will affect the short term, but the long-term investment will be continued,” Michalopoulos said.
Wizz Air is the largest low cost carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, which operates flights on more than 710 routes from 25 bases, connecting 154 destinations in 45 countries.
