Wizz Air to delay Gulf startup if Abu Dhabi doesn’t reopen soon

Wizz Air said it will delay the Oct. 1 launch of its new airline in Abu Dhabi if a ban on foreign visitors isn’t relaxed soon. The deadline for a go-decision is fast approaching, and it’s likely that flights will be pushed back by a few weeks because of the health-related restrictions, Wizz CEO Jozsef Varadi said. “We have one aircraft already there and another arriving in the next few days, but really we need Abu Dhabi to open up so that people can actually fly,” he said by phone from Budapest, where Wizz is based. Flights to Abu Dhabi are currently limited by the government to returning local residents, and then only if they’ve recently tested negative for Covid-19, with people also required to self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival. That’s stifling interest from the tourists who are expected to account for the bulk of demand at the new carrier, Varadi said. Wizz announced plans to expand its low-cost model to the Middle East in December. It teamed with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ to create the venture. Varadi confirmed launch destinations of Athens, Alexandria in Egypt, Larnaca on the island of Cyprus, Odessa in Ukraine, the Armenian capital Yerevan, and Kutaisi, Georgia. He said the plan remains to expand to six Airbus A321neo aircraft within six months once the venture is running.<br/>