@SeanM1997

British Airways are reported to have axed plans to revive short haul operations at London Gatwick Airport, with all short haul flights removed from sale (excluding daily flights to Glasgow and Manchester). With the second largest carrier at Gatwick significantly reducing operations, which airlines could be interested in buying slot s and expand or add a presence at the UK's second busiest airport? London Gatwick has been hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Norwegian Air and Virgin Atlantic have already closed its bases at the airport, whilst many long haul carriers have moved operations to Heathrow - including Air China, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern, Emirates and Rwandair. Whilst some of these airlines are forecast to return in Summer 2022, it is unclear to what extent they will return or if they would remain at Heathrow (if they can obtain long term slots). All this means there will be a great number of available slots at London Gatwick for new and incumbent airlines to base a...

Wizz Air announced a new route from Tirana to Liverpool, with year round flights commencing 10 December 2021. The announcement was one of 4 new routes from Tirana, where Wizz Air plan to base an additional aircraft in the Albanian capital. This will be the only UK - Albania flight outside of London. Wizz Air are to operate the route three times weekly and is the third Wizz Air new route in Liverpool in 2021 - following Burgas in Bulgaria and Rome Fiumicino in Italy. In total, Wizz Air will operate 14 routes from Liverpool in 2021. Flight timings: W6 6641 TIA 1950-2215 LPL (Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays) W6 6642 LPL 2250-0255+1 TIA (Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays) *Frequencies and timings were accurate at the time of publication Photo: https://wizzair.com/en-gb/information-and-services/about-us/press-office/aircraft

15 June 2021 Wizz Air announced a new route from Naples to London Luton, with year round flights commencing 15 September 2021. The announcement was one of 18 new routes from Naples, where Wizz Air plan to base 2 Airbus A321 aircraft from 30 June 2021. This will be the sixth Italian destination with Wizz Air from London Luton - joining Bari, Catania, Milan Malpensa, Palermo and the recently announced Rome Fiumicino. This route will compete directly against easyJet and indirectly against British Airways, easyJet (from Gatwick), Jet2, Ryanair and TUI. In 2019 (the last full year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), 126,155 passengers travelled between London Luton and Naples, whilst a combined 880,854 passengers flying between London and Naples. In Peak Summer 2021 (week commencing 2 August 2021), easyJet will fly to Naples from London Luton seven times weekly. From London Gatwick, easyJet will serve the Naples route 12 times weekly whilst TUI will serve the route three times weekly. From Lon...

London Southend was once the UK's fastest growing airports and in 2019 saw over 2 million passengers for the first time in its history. However, in March 2020, COVID hit and caused turmoil across the aviation sector, but one airport suffered more than any other in the UK - London Southend. In 2008, Stobart Group bought the airport for £21 million and initially extended the runway by 300m to allow the airport to handle Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft. In 2011, an on site railway station opened with direct trains to London and Stratford. Additionally, the airport announced a 10-year deal with easyJet, with the airline basing three A319 aircraft and in 2018 and offering over 70 weekly flights from the airport. In 2014, Stobart Air announced a franchise deal with Flybe to see two aircraft based at the airport with a third added in 2017 to serve domestic and European routes. In 2018, easyJet added a fourth aircraft, before Ryanair announced a new base at London Southend, being the t...

10 June 2021 Wizz Air have today announced the launch of its first domestic routes within the United Kingdom - Cardiff and Doncaster/Sheffield to Jersey, both operate 2x weekly flights between 9 July 2021 and 6 September 2021. Therefore, I look into whether Wizz Air should launch other UK domestic flights? COVID-19 has led to many restrictions on international travel across the world, with a stronger demand for staycations and domestic travel. In the UK, many airlines have added new domestic flights in 2021 including Aer Lingus Regional, BA CityFlyer, Blue Islands, Eastern Airways, easyJet, Jet2 and Loganair. Wizz Air are one of the most ambitious airlines in Eur ope, starting out in Eastern Europe and serving a 'Visiting Friends and Relatives' market, to expanding in Western Europe and serving leisure-orientated routes. In 2020, Wizz Air announced 2 new bases in the UK - Doncaster/Sheffield and London Gatwick, with a third, Cardiff, launching in June 2021. This has taken Wizz ...

Wizz Air are one of the most ambitious airlines in Eur ope, starting out in Eastern Europe and serving a 'Visiting Friends and Relatives' market, to expanding in Western Europe and serving leisure-orientated routes. In 2020, Wizz Air announced 2 new bases in the UK - Doncaster/Sheffield and London Gatwick, with a third, Cardiff, launching in June 2021. This has taken Wizz Air to 4 bases across the UK and a total of 11 airports served. Yet one region is mysteriously  absent from Wizz Air's expansion - North East England. Newcastle is the 11th busiest airport in the UK and 2nd busiest in the UK outside of London without a Wizz Air route (after Manchester). In 2019, the airport served approximately 5.2 million passengers with some of its busiest routes including Alicante, Tenerife and Malaga within the top 10 from the airport. The Newcastle catchment also stretches a wide area - including Scotland, North East England and Yorkshire, making it a lucrative market for any airline....

Wizz Air are one of the boldest airlines in Europe at present in terms of expansion, starting out in Eastern Europe and serving a 'Visiting Friends and Relatives' market, to expanding in Western Europe and serving leisure-orientated routes. Throughout 2020, Wizz Air decided to try the domestic markets in two countries - Italy and Norway, with mixed results. COVID has led to travel restrictions across Europe in 2020 and early 2021, however, restricting travel in a single country can be difficult. Furthermore, countries are likely to open up internally before allowing international routes to resume. This led to Wizz Air looking to diversify their network and launch domestic routes from Italy and Norway - 2 of the largest markets in Europe for domestic travel due to their geographic nature of long, slim countries resulting in long travel times. Over the last 12 months, Wizz Air's Italy operation has grown from strength to strength, with bases in 5 Italian cities and have recen...