Wizz Air announces launch of SIX more routes serving Luton Airport including flights to Faro

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Wizz Air announces launch of SIX new routes serving Luton Airport from next month days after resuming flights to European destinations for the first time since lockdown

By Joe Middleton For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Wizz Air has announced the launch of six new routes serving Luton Airport from next month after resuming flights to European destinations for the first time since lockdown.

The budget airline said the new routes would include flights to Faro in Portugal on June 18, four Greek islands from early July and Morocco in late October. 

Airline giants easyJet, Ryanair and British Airways remain grounded due to the pandemic, with only a few services operating for emergency travel.

But Wizz Air said the new routes are part of its planning  for the easing of restrictions, and said that new rules it had introduced, such as compulsory face masks for passengers and staff, should give customers confidence to fly. 

Owain Jones, managing director of the Hungarian airline’s UK subsidiary, said: ‘Although travel is currently restricted by government regulations, we are planning for the easing of restrictions as the situation improves and our customers are able to start travelling again.

Passengers board the Wizz Air flight to Sofia in Bulgaria at London Luton Airport on Friday lunchtime after the airline resumed flights last week

‘The Wizz team is excited that our network from London Luton will continue to grow to include many new summer and winter sun destinations, and our new sanitising protocols will give our customers the confidence that they can safely rely on Wizz Air’s ultra-low-cost fares to visit these new and exciting destinations on board Europe’s greenest fleet.

‘As always, our primary concern is the health, safety and well-being of our passengers and crew, and our enhanced protective measures will ensure the most sanitary conditions possible.’

How coronavirus has affected the UK’s biggest airlines in the last month:

Flybe: Europe’s largest regional airline collapsed on March 5 after months on the brink, triggering 2,400 job losses and left around 15,000 passengers stranded across the UK and Europe. Flybe’s owners, a consortium including Virgin Atlantic, the Stobart Group and hedge fund firm Cyrus Capital, blamed coronavirus for hastening the ailing airline’s collapse. Flybe operated up to 50 UK routes, accounting for 40 per cent of all domestic flights, and was used by 9.5million passengers a year.

British Airways: The International Airlines Group, which also includes Iberia and Aer Lingus, said on March 16 that there would be a 75 per cent reduction in passenger capacity for two months, with boss Willie Walsh admitting there was ‘no guarantee that many European airlines would survive’.

easyJet: The airline with 9,000 UK-based staff including 4,000 cabin crew grounded its entire fleet of 344 planes on March 30. The Luton-based carrier said parking all of its planes ‘removes significant cost’ as the aviation industry struggles to cope with a collapse in demand.

Loganair: The Scottish regional airline said on March 30 that it expects to ask the Government for a bailout to cope with the impact of the pandemic. Loganair will go to the government despite being told by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak last week that airlines should exhaust all other options for funding, before asking for help.

Jet2: The budget holiday airline has suspended all of its flights departing from Britain until April 30. A number of Jet2 flights turned around mid-air last month while travelling to Spain when a lockdown was announced in the country.

Virgin Atlantic: The airline said on March 16 that it would have reduced its lights by 80 per cent by March 26, and this will go up to 85 per cent by April. It has also urged the Government to offer carriers emergency credit facilities worth up to £7.5billion.

Ryanair: More than 90 per cent of the Irish-based airline’s planes are now grounded, with the rest of the aircraft providing repatriation and rescue flights.