LONDON – Yesterday, Wizz Air announced new routes into Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates and Europe, as part of further expansion of the Abu Dhabi subsidiary.
Rome and Vienna will be the European destinations from Dammam, with the Abu Dhabi flight also operating into the Saudi Arabian destination too.
Below is a timetable of when these routes will launch:
| Route | Operating Days | Flights start |
| Rome – Dammam | Wednesday and Sunday | 28-Sep-2022 |
| Vienna – Dammam | Monday and Friday | 30-Sep-2022 |
| Abu Dhabi – Dammam | Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday | 01-Nov-2022 |
Executive Comments…
Robert Carey, President of Wizz Air, said: “Wizz Air is committed to increasing global connectivity to marvelous destinations with real opportunities for growth and expansion. Saudi Arabia is a very exciting market and our expansion will bring ultra-low-cost travel to the Kingdom.”
“Our regular flights to Dammam will provide year-round sun for tourists, and provide a mix of destinations for residents of the Kingdom.”
“We want to thank our partners for their support during the expansion, especially the Air Travel Connectivity Programme, the Ministry of Investment, GACA, the Dammam airport, and the government of Saudi Arabia.”
“The recently signed MoU demonstrates our commitment to supporting travelers to and from Saudi by bringing in a new era of air travel with our ultra-low fares, point-to-point network, and high-quality onboard service.”
“Unlocking travel opportunities for everyone is the core of our brand and we will keep delivering on that by granting access to travelers to and from Saudi at our incredibly low fares.”
“The WIZZ team is looking forward to welcoming passengers of all ages on board our modern, young, and green aircraft soon, and to supporting the 2030 vision.”
Khalil Lamrabet, CEO of The Air Connectivity Program, said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with both Wizz Air and Dammam Airport to grow traffic, in particular inbound tourism, from key European markets into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
“We look forward to the success of these routes and working with both our partners to grow the Wizz Air network into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Fahd bin Sulaiman Al-Harbi, CEO of Dammam Airports Company, said: “We are very happy to welcome Wizz Air flights at King Fahd International Airport.”
“Strengthening the global connectivity of the Kingdom is very important and Dammam Airport Company (DACO) continues to develop new destinations to serve the citizens and residents of the Eastern province.”
“We are ready to welcome tourists and impress them with the beauty of Dammam. ”
Progress Made in Saudi Arabia…
It remains clear that based on Wizz Air signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kingdom last month, this is turning more into a firm commitment.
With more flights for the Abu Dhabi subsidiary on the way, it remains clear where Wizz Air is wanting to take this brand, especially on the low-cost front.
This will no doubt make the legacy carriers such as Saudia, Emirates & Etihad sweat a little bit, especially with the destinations being popular routes that those airlines already operate.
Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see where else the Abu Dhabi subsidiary will go, and whether we could see a complete expansion into other regions of the Middle East too.
