Wizz Air is Considering Abu Dhabi and London for Destination of Its Airbus A321XLR

Wizz Air is already considering prospective itineraries for its future Airbus A321XLR fleet. Krislen Keri, Senior Commercial Manager of Wizz Air’s Emirati affiliate, indicated interest in using the jets on the airline’s routes out of Abu Dhabi (AUH) and London Luton earlier this month during a conference (LTN).

Even though the long-awaited A321XLR deliveries from Wizz Air won’t arrive for another approximately two years, the Budapest-based carrier is already considering prospective routes for the long-range narrowbodies. The Wizz Air jet’s future in the fleet and its prospective use for eastward development were briefly discussed by Keri, who was in attendance at this month’s Routes Asia conference in Thailand.

“While there might be an opportunity from Budapest to use the XLR, we believe that the most opportunities are out of Abu Dhabi and the UK. We will analyse and see where it fits best – we’re not ruling anything out as of now – but we know for sure the first deliveries will go to Abu Dhabi and the UK,”  said Keri.

47 of the type are now on order by Wizz Air, and they should start flying by the end of 2024. The airline has previously mentioned intentions for the aircraft in passing, expressing an interest in outfitting the A321XLR with its maximum economy configuration of 239 seats and using it on longer-distance routes. Wizz Air has previously stated that it has no interest in the fiercely competitive transatlantic market, where other potential A321XLR operators like JetBlue have made plans, and that it prefers to use the aircraft for Middle Eastern and international flights.

Together with Abu Dhabi, London is an important market for Wizz Air. With nearly 70 destinations throughout Europe and North Africa, Luton is currently the airline’s second-largest base.

Notwithstanding some recent controversy, the airline has flown more than 15 million people from Bedfordshire Airport over the course of the last five years, and demand is still strong.

Wizz Air has been expanding its network of destinations in Asia and the Middle East over the past few months, including Uzbekistan in December, The Maldives in October, and Saudi Arabia in September. Currently, Wizz Air operates all routes using Airbus A320 and A321neo aircraft, which have a range of around 4,000 NM. The future A321XLR, however, will increase that range to 4,7000 NM, enabling for deeper growth into Asia and Africa from Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

The airline was focused on sustaining point-to-point operations to maintain its ULCC competitive edge, Keri said as she discussed prospective options for one-stop connections in Abu Dhabi. But, Keri added that the airline was looking on ways to better promote self-connections and did not completely rule it out.

Keri added: “Through the XLR we intend to connect the furthest points of our network. Obviously, Europe is in the pipeline, but most importantly, so is the Asia region. We’re looking at destinations in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, as well as central and western Africa.”