Low cost airline Wizz Air will resume flights form Luton tomorrow

by

Low cost airline Wizz Air will resume flights from Luton airport to Spain, Portugal and other destinations tomorrow – even though some are to countries that won’t let foreigners in

  • Wizz Air will resume flights from London Luton airport from tomorrow morning
  • The airline plans to have 10 per cent of its services running during May 
  • The low-cost carrier expects that figure will increase to 70 per cent by August
  • The Foreign and Commonwealth Office still advises against non-essential travel 

By Darren Boyle for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air said it will be resuming flights from London Luton tomorrow.

The flights will service airports in Spain, Portugal, Israel, Slovakia, Serbia, Romania and Hungary. 

The airline is promising low fares to stimulate demand, however, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office still advises against all foreign non-essential travel. 

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air said it will resume flights from London Luton airport tomorrow morning after implementing new Covid-19 guidelines for staff and passengers 

The airline's chief executive Jozsef Varadi, pictured, said he hoped to have 70 per cent of services back between July and August

The airline’s chief executive Jozsef Varadi, pictured, said he hoped to have 70 per cent of services back between July and August

The airline is planning to resume services to locations such as Tenerife, Lisbon, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Israel

The airline is planning to resume services to locations such as Tenerife, Lisbon, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Israel

Wizz Air’s UK managing director Owain Jones told The Sun: ‘As we restart selected Luton flights to provide an essential service to passengers who need to travel, our primary concern is the health, safety and well-being of our customers and crew.

‘The protective measures that we are implementing will ensure the most sanitary conditions possible.

‘We encourage our customers to watch our new video on how to stay safe when travelling, as well as for more details on our new health and safety measures.’ 

The airline is also preparing to resume flights to Italy – including the Covid-19 hotspot of Milan,  

According to the company’s chief executive Jozsef Varadi, the airline will run 10 per cent of its services during May and hopes to have 70 per cent of its jets in the air by August.

Mr Varadi told the Financial Times: ‘‘While today looks like a huge concern, a life changing moment, in a year or two nobody remembers.’ 

He said: ‘Whatever crisis we look back on in history, one conclusion you can certainly make is peoples’ memories tend to be very short. While today looks like a huge concern, a life changing moment, in a year or two nobody remembers.’  

How coronavirus has affected airlines in the UK over the past month

Flybe: Europe’s largest regional airline collapsed on March 5 after months on the brink, triggering 2,400 job losses and left around 15,000 passengers stranded across the UK and Europe. Flybe’s owners, a consortium including Virgin Atlantic, the Stobart Group and hedge fund firm Cyrus Capital, blamed coronavirus for hastening the ailing airline’s collapse. Flybe operated up to 50 UK routes, accounting for 40 per cent of all domestic flights, and was used by 9.5million passengers a year.

British Airways: The International Airlines Group, which also includes Iberia and Aer Lingus, said on March 16 that there would be a 75 per cent reduction in passenger capacity for two months, with boss Willie Walsh admitting there was ‘no guarantee that many European airlines would survive’.

easyJet: The airline with 9,000 UK-based staff including 4,000 cabin crew grounded its entire fleet of 344 planes on March 30. The Luton-based carrier said parking all of its planes ‘removes significant cost’ as the aviation industry struggles to cope with a collapse in demand.

Loganair: The Scottish regional airline said on March 30 that it expects to ask the Government for a bailout to cope with the impact of the pandemic. Loganair will go to the government despite being told by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak last week that airlines should exhaust all other options for funding, before asking for help.

Jet2: The budget holiday airline has suspended all of its flights departing from Britain until April 30. A number of Jet2 flights turned around mid-air last month while travelling to Spain when a lockdown was announced in the country.

Virgin Atlantic: The airline said on March 16 that it would have reduced its lights by 80 per cent by March 26, and this will go up to 85 per cent by April. It has also urged the Government to offer carriers emergency credit facilities worth up to £7.5billion.

Ryanair: More than 90 per cent of the Irish-based airline’s planes are now grounded, with the rest of the aircraft providing repatriation and rescue flights.