WizzAir Abu Dhabi will operate its inaugural flight in mid-January from Abu Dhabi to Athens.
Initially, the plan was to launch the airline last summer, but the it was put on hold due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
WizzAir Abu Dhabi, a joint venture between Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air and Abu Dhabi and state holding company ADQ, hopes to recreate its successful European business model in the Middle East.
From 15 January 2021, a new model of air travel comes to Abu Dhabi, offering new choices and new competition, demonstrating that things are looking up for next year,” said Kees Van Schaick, Managing Director, WizzAir Abu Dhabi, as reported by The National.
The inaugural flight will be from Abu Dhabi to Athens with prices starting at Dh129 ($35).
The low-cost Gulf carrier also said it would fly from Abu Dhabi to the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki starting 4th February,2021.
“Our network from Abu Dhabi will expand rapidly as destinations on our planned network are added to the ‘green countries’ list,” said Mr. Van Schaick. “We are fully prepared. We have the aircraft, we have the crew, we have the partners, and we are ready to fly.”, he added.
The decision to launch the airline comes after Abu Dhabi relaxed its travel restrictions on international visitors arriving from 16 “green countries” on 24th December,2020. Passengers arriving in the Emirate will not be required to quarantine but must take a PCR test when they land in Abu Dhabi and must self-isolate themselves until they receive a negative result. Follow-up PCR tests are then required on the 6th and 12th day after having entered the country.
WizzAir Abu Dhabi’s initial list of destinations including the 2 in Greece are:
- Athens, Greece
- Thessaloniki, Greece
- Larnaca, Cyprus
- Odesa, Ukraine
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Yerevan, Armenia
- Kutaisi, Georgia
Flights to the above-mentioned destinations will begin once the countries that they are in have been added to Abu Dhabi’s list of “green countries.”
The allow-cost carrier will start operations with 2 Airbus A321neo narrow-body aircrafts that the airline took delivery of in September.
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