The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizzair is radically cutting its flight offer from Vienna-Schwechat: With the exception of the destinations Dortmund, Athens and Tenerife South, all other routes will be discontinued at the beginning of November. These will pause at least until the end of November 2020, in some cases until the end of the 2020/21 winter flight planning period.

The pink lowcoster reduces the presence at Austria's largest airport to an absolute minimum, because the three remaining routes are not served with high frequency. Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, Wizzair has always emphasized that it sees itself as a pioneer and that it would have come through the crisis much better than the competition. The occupancy rate of the flights has been catastrophic for several weeks, so that the low-cost airline has repeatedly made cuts.

“Wizz Air emphasizes its long-term commitment to the Austrian market and that it carries out the flight plan in Austria in full, as far as the travel restrictions, which are not in the area of ​​responsibility of Wizz Air, permit. Wizz Air is interested in the travel restrictions being lifted as soon as possible in order to be able to carry out the full flight schedule in Austria, ”explains András Rado, Wizzair's press spokesman on request.

All routes, with three exceptions, will be phased out by the coming weekend. In the reservation system, bookings will again be possible on some routes from the beginning of December 2020, but on some routes only in the summer flight schedule 2020. A resumption of some routes in December 2020 is unlikely, as entry and quarantine regulations are very difficult or impossible to meet on both sides. It is therefore to be expected that the presence of Wizzair in the winter flight schedule 2020/21 will be at an absolute minimum. It can also not be ruled out that the base could go into hibernation. It is completely unclear what impact the recent deletions will have on staff. In the spring, the company did not take advantage of short-time work, but instead cut wages and parted ways with some pilots and flight attendants who worked for the Vienna base.

In November 2020, Wizzair will serve the Athens route a maximum of twice a week. The flight days are Tuesday and Saturday from the second week of November. Dortmund is served twice a week, with flights only on Sunday in the second week of November, otherwise also on Wednesday. Tenerife South is served once a week on Sundays.

The competitor Ryanair cut its presence in Vienna a few days ago. 15 routes were canceled, Recently, the Polish subsidiary Buzz, alongside Lauda Europe and Ryanair, has also been used from Vienna under FR flight numbers. Austrian Airlines will cancel seven routes in November 2020. Eurowings is extending the Cancellations from Vienna continue and continue Klagenfurt-Cologne / Bonn now until at least December 16, 2020.