Wizz Air UK Ltd. is a British airline and

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

Wizz Air Wizz Air, legally incorporated as Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ( hu, Wizz Air Hungary Légiközlekedési Zrt.) is a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier with its head office in Budapest, Hungary. The airline serves many cities across Europe, as well as ...

, using its

corporate identity A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public (such as customers and investors as well as employees). The corporate identity is typically visualized by ...

. Founded to enable Wizz Air to retain full UK market access post-Brexit, the airline operates flights from three bases in the UK. Its headquarters are at

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by L ...

. Wizz Air UK holds a

United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the statutory corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. Its areas of responsibility include: * Supervising the issuing of pilots' licences, testing of e ...

(CAA) Type A Operating Licence permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.

History

In October 2017,

announced it had applied for an

air operator's certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...

(AOC) in the United Kingdom through a new UK-based subsidiary, Wizz Air UK, with plans for the subsidiary to take over a number of Wizz Air's existing routes from its existing

base starting in March 2018. The following month, the airline announced an expansion of service at Luton after acquiring departure and landing slots from defunct

Monarch Airlines Monarch Airlines, also known as Monarch, was a British charter and scheduled airline founded by Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock and financed by the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family. The company later became a low-cost airline in 2004 before aband ...

. Wizz Air UK received its AOC in May 2018, two months later than originally planned. In August 2020, Wizz Air UK announced it would be opening its second UK base at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, basing one aircraft and opening 7 new routes to add to its existing network of ten routes. The airline further announced it would be opening its third UK base at London's

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after ...

, basing one aircraft and opening four new routes to add to its existing network of five routes. In September 2020, Wizz Air UK further announced another six routes along with the basing of a second aircraft, increasing the size of the network to 23 routes at Doncaster. In December 2020, Wizz Air UK announced it would be opening its fourth UK base at

Cardiff Airport Cardiff Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Caerdydd) is the only airport offering commercial passenger services in Wales. It has been under the ownership of the Welsh Government since March 2013, operating at an arm's length as a commercial business. ...

, basing one aircraft and opening 9 routes. In June 2022, Wizz Air UK announced it would be closing its base at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, cancelling a large number of flights. It was claimed that this was a result of Doncaster Sheffield Airport indicating that it was unable to guarantee the terms of its commercial agreement with Wizz Air. Doncaster Sheffield Airport became aware of this announcement via a statement on social media and approached Wizz Air for further details of the announcement. Wizz Air UK was the worst performer in 2021 for flight delays from UK airports, according to a study of

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

data by PA Media, released in August 2022.

Destinations

Wizz Air UK operates in conjunction with parent company

Fleet

Wizz Air UK, G-WUKD, Airbus A320-232 (31399906698)

, the Wizz Air UK fleet consists of the following aircraft:

References

External links

* {{Airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 2017 Low-cost carriers British companies established in 2017 British subsidiaries of foreign companies 2017 establishments in England Companies based in Luton