European low-cost airline Wizz Air has exclusively revealed more details about its plans for the company’s incoming fleet of Airbus A321XLR aircraft, the first of which is due to be delivered to the carrier in late February 2025.
In a special event held in London on September 10, 2024, the airline group’s CEO József Váradi gave those in attendance further insight into Wizz Air’s strategy for its long-awaited extended range narrowbodies. Váradi confirmed that the carrier’s plans for its A321XLRs will include longer-range routes from its base at London-Gatwick Airport (LGW), starting with a daily service to Jeddah (JED) in Saudia Arabia with the first flight leaving the London airport on March 31, 2025.
Váradi confirmed that the route will be the first operated by the carrier with its new A321XLRs and that the slots are already secured for the operation to begin in March 2025 as planned.
During the event, also attended by the CEO of London-Gatwick Airport, Stewart Wingate, Váradi said that Wizz Air had identified Jeddah, at just over seven hours’ flying time from Gatwick, as the ideal first destination for its newest type of aircraft. The route offers a direct option to Saudi Arabia for cost-conscious business and leisure travelers, plus those traveling to visit friends and relatives (VFR) or for religious reasons, added Váradi.
The plane will carry 239 passengers in a single-class, high-density configuration and will operate overnight eastbound from the UK to take advantage of slot availability at Gatwick for the northern summer season of 2025.
“The Airbus A321XLR is the most cost-efficient aircraft in its class,” said Váradi. “Its enhanced range capability allows Wizz Air to connect the farthest destinations in its network, while also providing opportunities for further expansion, connecting more cultures, economies, and continents.”
He added: “We are excited to offer unbeatable fares to our customers on the new route from London Gatwick to Jeddah. Since establishing our base at London Gatwick in 2020, we have demonstrated ambitious growth, making it a natural, strategic decision to operate our first Airbus A321XLR from this airport.”
“We’re delighted that Wizz Air has decided to operate its first A321XLR based in the UK from London Gatwick,” said Wingate. “Wizz Air has grown consistently since opening its base here in 2020. This new type of aircraft will allow us to provide a wider range of routes and increase our capacity, offering our passengers even more travel opportunities. The development will play an important role in the further growth in our intercontinental network, as we look to offer more choice for passengers and work towards our vision to be the airport for everyone, whatever your journey.”
Upon its commencement, the new route, at 2,930 miles (4,688km), will become the longest low-cost route from the UK, according to Váradi. While Wizz Air’s onboard service and customer experience will remain unaltered from that offered elsewhere across its network, its fares will be lower than those offered by the competition on the route, he said.
With British Airways starting its own flights between London-Heathrow (LHR) and Jeddah in November 2024, Wizz Air believes that its low fares will appeal to budget-conscious travelers, with one-way fares from the UK starting at £134.99 ($177). Váradi added that Wizz Air crews are ready to begin flying on the route to Jeddah, from where the carrier already operates to several other European cities.
Questioned as to whether the carrier would consider operating its newest planes across the Atlantic in the future, Váradi said that the economics and market conditions on transatlantic routes meant that Wizz Air was not evaluating the proposition at the moment. However, the carrier is examining other eastbound destinations that lie between six to eight hours of flying time from London as more likely additions to its A321XLR network from the UK in the future.
Wizz Air and the A321XLR
The announcement regarding London-Gatwick comes just days after a similar event held in Italy on September 4, 2024, during which Váradi broke the news that the airline will also base some of its incoming A321XLRs at Milan-Malpensa Airport (MXP). The aircraft will operate a daily direct service between that airport and Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH) from June 2, 2025.
Abu Dhabi already features on the Wizz Air group route network. The company’s subsidiary Wizz Air Abu Dhabi currently maintains a fleet of 12 Airbus A320 family aircraft and flies to 32 destinations across 24 countries from the Middle Eastern city.
More about the A321XLR
In July 2024, the A321XLR was awarded its Type Certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), paving the way for its commercial entry into service.
The first commercial flight of the A321XLR will be operated by Iberia and will see the Spanish airline use its newest aircraft to operate between Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) on November 14, 2024.
Aer Lingus had been slated to be the launch customer until a pay dispute with its pilot union led to it being usurped in favor of fellow International Airline Group member Iberia. However, the Irish airline will still receive its first two aircraft by the end of 2024, following the resolution of the dispute in July 2024.
As the latest addition to Airbus’ hugely successful A320 family of narrowbody aircraft, the A321XLR’s arrival has been considered by airlines to be the most important introduction of a new aircraft type for many years. Since the program was launched in June 2019, several airlines have placed firm orders for the plane, including IndiGo, Qantas, and American Airlines, with numerous other carriers thought to still be evaluating the plane for possible future introduction.
Airbus has high hopes for its latest new aircraft which it describes as offering, among other benefits, “single-aisle economics on widebody routes”. The manufacturer has been marketing the plane as having the ability to perform long-haul flights lasting up to ten hours in duration.
Boasting a range of 4,700 nautical miles (8,704km) and with a maximum takeoff weight of 101 metric tons, the type can carry more fuel than its A321neo stablemate by way of its additional fuel tanks, extending the range of the A321neo family even further.
More about Wizz Air
Wizz Air currently operates a fleet of 233 aircraft and has carried over 375 million passengers since its launch in 2004. It currently operates the third youngest fleet of any airline worldwide, according to ch-aviation. Wizz Air ordered 20 A321XLRs from the manufacturer in June 2019 to open up new longer-range markets currently out of reach for the budget airline group’s existing fleet.
“The Airbus A321XLR is the most cost-efficient aircraft of its class and, given the enhanced range capability, it enables Wizz Air to connect the furthest destinations in its network and further expand it, connecting cultures and continents,” Váradi said when announcing the order in 2019.
“The inherent aircraft economics of the Airbus A321XLR will widen our competitive advantage for stimulating demand for air travel in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond while minimizing our environmental footprint. The A320neo family aircraft are game-changing aircraft that enhance Wizz Air’s low-fare model and undisputed cost leadership in Europe,” he added.
The carrier operates from two UK bases located at London-Luton Airport (LTN) to the north of London while Gatwick sits to the south of the capital. The company currently has 17 A321neos based across the two bases and serves 95 routes to 66 destinations across 29 countries from the UK.
The airline enjoys a dominant 45% share of the total movements at Luton to where it operated its first-ever route from Katowice, Poland in May 2004. Luton was established as a full operating base by Wizz Air in 2017 while Gatwick followed in 2020.