Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) will begin flights from Leeds/Bradford Airport to seven European destinations from October 31 in response to the closure of Doncaster/Sheffield. The airline posted on social media on Friday, September 30, that it would operate flights to Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest Henri Coanda, Gdansk, Kraków John Paul II International, Katowice Pyrzowice, Warsaw Chopin, and Wroclaw from Leeds/Bradford. It will be the first time Wizz Air has regularly operated from the West Yorkshire airport.
The Peel Group, owners of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, confirmed in September that the airport would start closing down from October 31. The owners cited the airport's "fundamental lack of financial viability" as the key reason for the closure. Doncaster Sheffield is located just 33 nautical miles (61 kilometers) southeast of Leeds Bradford. In June, Wizz Air abruptly permanently canceled seasonal and year-round 13 routes from Doncaster Sheffield and closed its base there, saying it was unable to come to a commercial agreement with the airport.
Wizz Air still flies to eight destinations from Doncaster Sheffield. After the airline's last day of operations at the airport on October 30, only the route to Vilnius will not transfer to Leeds Bradford. Flights to Cluj-Napoca, Gdańsk, Kraków, Warsaw Chopin, and Wrocław will commence from Leeds Bradford on a twice-weekly basis (with some seasonal summer increases) on October 31. Twice weekly flights to Katowice and four times a week flights to Bucharest will start on November 1.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Wizz Air operates a fleet of Airbus narrowbodies, including A320-200s, A321-200s, and A321-200NX. Switching from Doncaster Sheffield to Leeds Bradford will see the low-cost airline maintain flights to ten UK airports.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport-based pilots and cabin crew have been offered the opportunity to fly out of another UK base while passengers booked to fly in and out of Doncaster Sheffield after October 31 have been offered a range of options, including switching to Leeds Bradford services.
