Wizz Air’s Long-Haul Flights Facing Challenges: Ticket Cancellations and Delivery Delays
Wizz Air’s Launch of Long-Haul Flights Postponed Due to Delivery Delay
Wizz Air had previously announced plans to launch long-haul flights with their new Airbus A321XLR, with the first flight scheduled to take off on 31 March from London Gatwick to Jeddah, Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. However, the Hungarian low-cost airline had to postpone the debut of their new planes due to a delivery delay.
According to reports from a Hungarian air travel-focused Facebook page called Buddles, Wizz Air did not receive their first A321XLR in time for the scheduled launch. As a result, the airline had to cancel the reservations of multiple passengers who had already booked tickets for the inaugural long-haul flight.
Despite the delivery delay, Wizz Air has decided not to postpone the first long-haul flight altogether. Instead, they will be using Airbus A321neo planes for the first 11 flights on the route between London and Jeddah. The A321neo planes have a shorter range than the A321XLR, meaning they can carry fewer passengers and require a stopover during the journey.
In addition to the London-Jeddah route, Wizz Air had also announced plans to open a new route between Budapest and Mumbai (Bombay) in India later this year. The route is expected to be served by an A321XLR plane, with a flight time of approximately 8 hours. However, the airline has not yet confirmed the debut of the new plane type in Budapest or the first route from the Hungarian capital.
It is not uncommon for Hungarian political figures, such as the foreign minister Péter Szijjártó, to announce economic and industrial developments or new flight routes. In this case, Szijjártó had previously announced the Budapest-Mumbai route, highlighting the airline’s expansion into long-haul flights with the A321XLR.
Despite the delivery delay and cancellation of some reservations, Wizz Air remains committed to launching their long-haul flights with the new A321XLR planes in the near future.
