Wizz Air
- IATA/ICAO Code
- W6/WZZ
- Airline Type
- Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier
- Year Founded
- 2003
- CEO
- József Váradi
- Country
- Hungary
Eighteen years have passed since Wizz Air took off on its first scheduled flight. The route was from Katowice to London Luton, airports which remain very important to the ultra-low-cost carrier to this day.
Four routes and eight flights on day one
Wizz Air’s first base was at Katowice, Poland, helped by 13 million people living within a two-hour drive. It had four routes on day one: Berlin Schönefeld (as it then was), London Luton, Milan Bergamo, and Rome Ciampino.
The first day’s schedule is shown below, with all times local, requiring one A320. There were eight sectors, with four legs per crew per shift, often considered optimal. Despite so many sectors, there were nearly 14 hours of aircraft block time, well over the minimum 12h per day often sought.
Having so many sectors and such high block time is unusual for an airline. It was achieved by extending the operating day and 30-minute turns. However, notice there was no ‘firebreak’ in-between crew shift changes to make up for any delays.
The average block time per sector was approximately 1h 40m, well-positioned in the one-to-two-hour sweet spot for LCCs/ULCCs. As you might expect, Wizz Air was a highly productive operator from day one.
- Katowice-London Luton: 06:20-07:30
- London Luton-Katowice: 08:05-11:20
- Katowice-Milan Bergamo: 11:50-13:25
- Milan Bergamo-Katowice: 13:55-15:30
- Katowice-Rome Ciampino: 16:00-17:55
- Rome Ciampino-Katowice: 18:25-20:20
- Katowice-Berlin Schönefeld: 20:50-21:55
- Berlin Schönefeld-Katowice: 22:25-23:30
Wizz Air’s first day of flying on May 19th, 2004. Image: GCMap.
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