That assessment: There is “no commercially reasonable chance that an airline like Sólyom can succeed in the current market conditions.” Váradi went on to state at the press conference that he does not fear Sólyom’s entry onto the market transforming the business, and that he would more fully respond to developments as they happen.
The prime announcement at the press conference, meanwhile was that Wizz Air will expand its base in Budapest with another aircraft next year; the addition will raise total capacity on the airline’s Budapest flights by 20% to 2.9 million seats, according to Váradi.
Wizz Air will start flying the Airbus A320 on March 14, next year, raising the number of flights for its nine routes originating in Budapest. Already announced was an increase of a daily route to London for four total, and more frequent routes to Eindhoven are also planned. The airline will add 11 new aircraft to its fleet in 2014; with three replacing older aircraft, the total number will rise from 45 to 53.
In 2012, 12 million passengers traveled on Wizz Air flights from 16 locations on 290 routes; the airline currently employs 1,600.
– Material from Gábor Pákozdi was used in this story
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