Wizz Air Holdings is planning to place the first of its A321-200NY(XLR)s with its Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (5W, Abu Dhabi International) and Wizz Air UK (W9, London Luton) units as it sees the most extensive network opportunities in these markets, Senior Commercial Manager at Wizz Air Abu Dhabi Krislen Keri said during the Routes Asia 2023 conference.
"While there might be an opportunity from Budapest to use the XLR, we believe that the most opportunities are out of Abu Dhabi International and the UK. We will analyse and see where it fits best - we're not ruling anything out as of now - but we know for sure the first deliveries will go to Abu Dhabi and the UK," he said.
He stressed that the low-cost carrier was planning to significantly expand its network with the ultra-long-range variant.
"Europe is in the pipeline, but most importantly, so is the Asia region. We're looking at destinations in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, as well as central and western Africa," he outlined.
The airline's Abu Dhabi base will allow it to offer self-connecting opportunities for services to Southeast Asia or India. However, Keri emphasised that point-to-point traffic would remain Wizz Air's priority. The Indigo Partners-backed low-cost carrier has a firm order with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for forty-seven A321-200NY(XLR)s. Although the type has yet to be certified, Wizz Air hopes to induct the first in late 2024.
Wizz Air currently comprises three wholly-owned AOCs (Wizz Air, Wizz Air UK, and Wizz Air Malta), the joint venture (JV) with Abu Dhabi investment holding ADQ, and plans to launch a similar JV in Saudi Arabia. The holding is one of the world's largest customers for the (XLR), trailing behind IndiGo Airlines (69 units), American Airlines, and United Airlines (50 each), according to the ch-aviation fleets module.
