Wizz Air has a chance to become a force across Europe, using its low-cost structure and financial clout to capture a bigger share of the market when the coronavirus finally lets up. The Hungarian discount carrier has snapped up airport capacity in Italy, Germany, Norway and the UK during the pandemic, but the westward push has been slowed by measures meant to stabilize an industry hard hit by the outbreak. Authorities in the UK and the EU have extended a waiver of rules that force airlines to relinquish unused takeoff and landing slots -- shielding them from rivals targeting expansion at hubs like London Gatwick. Wizz CEO Jozsef Varadi argues that the measures are protectionist, and that airports starved for fees would welcome fresh tenants. “Airports are firing people as a result of incumbent airlines stopping flights,” Varadi said. “We could revive those airports but we’re being blocked out.” Controlling more slots would help Wizz capture a bigger share of the travel rebound when it arrives. Varadi has modeled the company after Ryanair. Both airlines have signaled that they’ll keep taking plane deliveries and opening new bases in preparation for the upturn. In a market unlikely to return to 2019 levels for several years, any gains they make will come at the cost of others.<br/>
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Wizz Air has announced the launch of its 41st base, this time in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Sarajevo. The announcement follows a tender that Sarajevo launched to attract a new airline. The base will open in May with a single Airbus A320 aircraft and nine new routes. They will be to Basel, Brussels Charleroi, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Gothenburg, London Luton, Memmingen, and Paris Beauvais. None of these are currently served out of Sarajevo. The airline already has a base in Tuzla but it is increasingly reducing its presence there. These new routes will link Sarajevo to airports that serve cities with a sizeable Bosnian diaspora. They are also mostly low-cost alternatives to nearby major airports in highly populous areas. Story lists new destinations.<br/>
Faced with a devastating drop in tourism, the once-consistently profitable Allegiant Travel ended 2020 in the red. Allegiant Air’s parent on Wednesday reported a loss of $184.1m last year, compared with $232.1m in profit in 2019. Revenue plunged 46.2% to $990.1m last year for the airline as the coronavirus pandemic upended daily life, kept people home and away from crowds for fear of getting infected, and sparked huge job losses around the country, especially in casino-heavy Las Vegas, where the economy is fueled by tourism. Las Vegas-based Allegiant, a deep-discount carrier, is known for flying from small, underserved cities to warm-weather vacation spots, usually without competition on its routes. It booked 17 consecutive profitable years before the pandemic hit. Allegiant Chairman and CEO Maurice “Maury” Gallagher said Wednesday that with the end of Q4, “we completed the most challenging year the industry has faced in its history.”<br/>
Air Wisconsin will lay off 140 unionised first officers effective April 1, 2021, due to diminished operations for United. "At this point in time, this is a temporary layoff. The layoff time period is unknown, as it will be dependent on the increase in travel demands and United Airlines’ need for Air Wisconsin’s flying services," the regional capacity provider said in the notice. Air Wisconsin operates sixty-four CRJ200s exclusively on behalf of United. Although its headquarters are in Appleton, WI, it does not maintain any crew bases in its home state. Air Wisconsin operates United regional services out of Washington Dulles and Chicago O'Hare, focussing on serving the East Coast and the Midwest. In Wisconsin, the airline serves Appleton, Wausau Mosinee, Milwaukee General Mitchell, and Green Bay, connecting each of the cities with United's hub at nearby Chicago O'Hare. The airline also operates the Appleton-Denver Int'l route for United.<br/>