Wizz Air expects new fleet to herald huge drop in air fares to Middle East

The UK boss of Wizz Air claims fares for flights between Britain and the Middle East could drop to a quarter of their current levels once the low-cost airline takes delivery of its new Airbus plane. Wizz Air, based in Hungary, has ordered 47 of the A321XLR planes from Airbus. The models have enhanced fuel capacity, with a maximum flying time of 11 hours, and burn up to 30% less fuel per seat than previous-generation aircraft. Marion Geoffroy, UK managing director of Wizz Air, said the planes will "revolutionise" air travel in terms of ticket prices. The new A321XLRs are expected to arrive in February and will enable Wizz Air to pursue new routes from the UK to the Middle East, adding to those it already has between continental Europe and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. "We will be looking at connecting the UK with the GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council] region, the Middle East, where we have a strong brand already and where we do have a sister airline, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi," Geoffroy said. "This is a very important region for us. From the UK that would definitely be a potential network that we would explore, because it makes a lot of sense to be connecting places where we do have a brand, we do have a presence, we do have customers."<br/>