Wizz Air Holdings PLC Wizz Air Applies for UK Air Operator Certificate (8781T)

TIDMWIZZ

RNS Number : 8781T

Wizz Air Holdings PLC

18 October 2017

WIZZ AIR APPLIES FOR UK AIR OPERATOR CERTIFICATE

London, 18 October 2017: Wizz Air UK Limited ("Wizz Air UK"), a fully owned and controlled subsidiary of Wizz Air Holdings Plc (the "Company" or "Wizz Air"), the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, announces that it has filed an application for the grant of an Air Operator's Certificate ("AOC") and Operating Licence ("OL") with the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom ("CAA").

Subject to receipt of its AOC and OL from the CAA, Wizz Air UK will begin operations in the UK in March 2018 with several UK-registered aircraft. The London Luton operating base of Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ("Wizz Air Hungary") will become a Wizz Air UK operation which will see the Company invest in local resources employing more than 100 people (management, pilots and cabin crew) by end of 2018. Routes not taken over by Wizz Air UK will continue to be operated by Wizz Air Hungary, maintaining and continuing to expand the group's network of 41 routes from London Luton.

Wizz Air Chief Executive Officer, József Váradi commented: "We are pleased to announce that we are seeking a UK AOC and Operating Licence, further signalling our commitment to the important UK market. It is a natural, next-step in the development of our UK business and will bring additional investment and jobs to our UK base at London Luton. The UK remains the single biggest travel market in Europe and we are currently the UK's 8(th) largest operator and this move is also part of our broader strategy to ensure that our UK operations are Brexit-ready. We look forward to working with the CAA to take this application forward."

Wizz Air's Commitment to the UK

Wizz Air's first ever flight in May 2004 was from Katowice to London Luton. Today WIZZ's UK network consists of 73 routes to 41 destinations from 9 airports. In the past 12 months, Wizz Air carried more than 7 million passengers on its low-fare UK routes, representing 14% growth year on year and supporting over 5,400 local jobs in associated industries*. Since the beginning of operations more than 40 million passengers have chosen to travel with WIZZ on its UK routes, taking advantage of its low fares from the UK to Central and Eastern Europe.

---ENDS

*ACI suggests creation of 750 on-site jobs for every million carried passengers per year

About Wizz Air

Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, operates a fleet of 86 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 aircraft, and offers more than 550 routes from 28 bases, connecting 144 destinations across 43 countries. At Wizz Air, a team of approximately 3,300 aviation professionals delivers superior service and very low ticket prices making Wizz Air the preferred choice of 23.8 million passengers in the financial year ended 31 March 2017. Wizz Air is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker WIZZ and is included in the FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share Indices. Wizz Air is registered under the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), the global benchmark in airline safety recognition. The company was recently named 2016 Value Airline of the Year by the editors of Air Transport World, one of the leading airline trade magazines, as well as 2016 Low Cost Airline of the Year by the Center for Aviation (CAPA), a leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence.

 
 For more information: 
 
                                                    +41 22 555 
 Investors:    Iain Wetherall, Wizz Air:             9873 
                                                    +36 1 777 
  Balint Veres, Wizz Air:                            9349 
 
                                                    +36 1 777 
 Media:        Tamara Vallois, Wizz Air:             9324 
  Edward Bridges / Jonathan Neilan,                 [phone] 
   FTI Consulting LLP:                               1017 
 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

MSCDDLFFDBFXFBK

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 18, 2017 05:00 ET (09:00 GMT)