LONDON – Wizz Air’s Maltese subsidiary has taken flight today, with the first flight departing for Rome Fiumicino International Airport.

The airline has hired cabin crew from Albania, Austria, Italy, and Romania, with its aircraft also being operated under the 9H registration code.

This subsidiary will be run by Diarmuid O Conghaile, who used to be an aviation regulator for the DAA in Ireland and is the first managing director of this part of the carrier.

Wizz Air held a ceremony in Malta yesterday to celebrate the acquisition of its Air Operator’s Certificate from EASA.

The Transport Minister of Malta, Aaron Farrugia, stated that he expects the airline to register “a substantial amount of aircraft in our country”, and offered the view to other companies that the country would “support investors who choose Malta as their jurisdiction.”

The President of Wizz Air, Robert Carey, mentioned that this would allow the carrier to “further diversify our operations and drive growth.”

Italy: The Next Focus for Wizz…

For Wizz Air, the next focus does seem to be Italy, and with the first flight from Malta operating to Rome, this doesn’t seem like a coincidence.

The carrier announced a further expansion to its bases in Italy, effectively making it the third largest airline in the country.

Wizz Air is allocating three of its Airbus A321neo aircraft to its bases at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa. Two aircraft will be deployed to Rome and one to Milan. 

The allocation of these aircraft will enable Wizz Air to launch 12 new routes as well as provide an increased frequency on five routes from Rome Fiumicino and three routes from Milan Malpensa.

The new routes will launch in October 2022. The airline advises that tickets for the 12 new services listed below are available now.

Expansion of Rome base

The allocation of two more aircraft to Wizz Air’s Rome Fiumicino base will grow the base to seven aircraft. The move brings the number of routes served from the Rome base to 65, including the launch of seven new routes from Italy’s capital city.

Passengers will now be able to fly to Barcelona, Gothenburg, Malaga, Paris Orly, Porto, Seville, and Valencia. Furthermore, the additional capacity allows Wizz Air to increase the frequency of its flights from the base to Eindhoven, Hurghada, Paris Orly, Tel Aviv, and Yerevan.

Expansion of Milan base

Milan Malpensa will receive one additional aircraft, making it a six-aircraft base. From here, Wizz Air plans to introduce five new routes to Cardiff, Jeddah, Marsa Alam, Riyadh, and Yerevan starting from October 2022.

This additional capacity also means that Wizz Air can increase flight frequency on routes to Tel Aviv, Catania, and Athens. With this expansion, the airline will operate routes to 43 destinations from Milan Malpensa.

Either way, this is another step in the right direction for Wizz, and they will no doubt sow the benefits from such expansion in Southern Europe.