Wizz Air pulls out of Bournemouth

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air has decided to pull the plug on its operations at Bournemouth Airport, in the United Kingdom. Central Europe’s largest homegrown discount airline argued that it was simply no longer feasible to maintain its Bournemouth operations, due to a slump in passenger demand. Originally, Wizz Air offered regular, direct flights to Katowice (Poland) from this British airport.

Wizz argues that there is a distinct change in travel trends currently taking hold in Europe. While over a million Poles relocated to the UK after their home country’s 2004 entry into the European Union, this migratory pattern appears to be slowing. A large number of Polish workers have returned home and short city breaks are now becoming much more important in terms of new travel habits. In many ways, Wizz Air was established by businesspeople who hoped to capitalize on the migration of Eastern Europeans following the enlargement of the EU. Now that travel trends are changing, Wizz Air will focus its UK-based operations much more heavily on London’s Stansted Airport.

Bournemouth Airport officials were quick to point out that rival Ryanair still offers direct flights to Poland. The hub expressed a degree of disappointment over Wizz Air’s sudden departure, but noted that it had to do with consolidation in the airline industry.

Thank you to the Dorset Echo for the initial report.

www.wizzair.com