EI-BUD

Pretty confident they'll stick to the sun routes. I expect that CWL will try and attract Aer Lingus regional or Eastern or at a long shot ryanair onto Dublin.

Nice to see some positive news about CWL for a change. And I'm sure if its cheap enough they will thrive.
Just a shame it has to be Wizzair. They are taking the p##s in he way they treat their crew, even making allowances for the current situation. Just follow the thread in Terms and Endearment to see how.
I think I'll choose to pay a bit more and travel with someone who is a better employer rather than encourage the race to the bottom.
I accept that not many will do likewise.

Excellent news about the Wizz base and well done to CWL for securing this airline.

This is what people have been crying out for so come on Wales back your local airport and this new airline to some great destinations.

I wonder if this new base would see the BRS-KTW flight with Wizz being transferred over to CWL especially as it is the only 1 Wizz destination from BRS.

Finally some good news for Cardiff after a pretty horrendous 12 months with Covid and the losses of BE and TCX.

Interesting that Wizz's first two non-London bases are small airports where they will be able to rule the roost as it were. Quite sensible that they are sticking to bucket and spade routes which have proven records from small British airports (even CWL). The only notable exception is Malaga, but it seems possible they might have wanted to avoid a route with three airlines already. I imagine we might have had a bit of Eastern Europe (OTP/KRK/WAW/GDK/BUD) like DSA if it wasn't for the uncertainty of Brexit and likely fall in migrant workflows. Perhaps that's something to look for in the future.

I can't imagine WIzz ever launching routes domestically or to Ireland either. As others have said, Aer Lingus Regional, Eastern, new Flybe and Loganair are the more likely operators when the Covid mist rises.

I would be very surprised if they launched Eastern Europe to Cardiff. I expect if there is expansion it would be more sun routes Barcelona Girona Malta Gran Canaria Rhodes and Dalaman could be all future possibilities but I'm definitely getting ahead myself!

It will be a classic case of use it or lose it. Good news for CWL thou.

This route is operated by KTW based crew, plus BRS has a huge Eastern European market that I am sure Wizz still want to be involved with. So I don’t see them rushing to move routes over the bridge at this stage, but you never know...

From the S2021 initial timetable however it does seem that 2 aircraft are required so am sure there is still more to come from Wizz @ CWL

Great news for Cardiff, have been using them from Luton for years and not really got any major complaints, just make sure you stick by rules for hand baggage and checking in online and you will be fine!

It is very unusual for Wizz Air to open up a base from an airport they have never previously operated from, as usually they fly there from other bases first. It is also interesting how the airline has suddenly in the last 1-2 years started expanding operations from the UK to summer sun destinations in Greece and Spain, as previously they avoided these routes like the plague and would only fly to Spain and Greece from their central European bases, where there was less competition.

Below is what the summer schedule looks likes for Mid-Summer in June/July/August (showing the departure time and arrival time back at CWL), and looks like that will be one busy Airbus A321 shuttling between all these destinations and Cardiff! Lanzarote and Sharm El Sheikh are not showing as they are only bookable for late 2021 going into the winter.

Sharm El Sheikh is also an interesting destination, as Wizz Air do not operate there from any other airports on their network, and I think it might actually be the longest route on their network and block time of six hours!

Mon
Heraklion
06.10 <--> 15.25
Tenerife
16.35 <--> 01.55

Tues
Corfu
06.10 <--> 13.40
Larnaca
14.30<-->01.10

Weds
Heraklion
06.10 <--> 15.25
Tenerife
16.35 <--> 01.55

Thurs
Palma
​​​​​​​06.10 <--> 11.25
Alicante
12.15 <--> 17.45
Faro
18.30 <--> 00.30

Fri
Heraklion
06.10 <--> 15.25
Tenerife
​​​​​​​16.35 <--> 01.55

Sat
Corfu
​​​​​​​06.10 <--> 13.40
Larnaca
14.30<-->01.10

Sun
Palma
06.10 <--> 11.25
Alicante
12.15 <--> 17.45
Faro
18.30 <--> 00.30

I wonder if there is phase 2 for next winter with additional destinations to cover the summer only routes ? Early days I know but good news day at last for CWL

fanrailuk

Didn't they start the KTW route when Ryanair opened a KRK base and opened a BRS-KRK flight/ closed BRS-KTW? (Ryanair once sold Katowice as 'Krakow (Katowice)').
They have been operating it for a few years now so must be happy with the route. Bristol does have a strong group of routes to Eastern Europe and the VFR market in South Wales is well accustomed to traveling to Bristol to fly there.

Thanks for the schedule @gilesdavies. Wizz have a lot of planes coming and bold expansion plans. If they see an opportunity, I think they'll take it. Wizzair UK's MD Owain Jones basically said as much in the media release interview. Their two non-London bases are both airports where they have almost a free-run in terms of competition. My worry about the success of the route would be with name-recognition of Wizz compared to easyjet and RYR who are better known in the local market. Wizz will certainly be competitive on price though if their prices are similar to LTN.

Letsflycwl

The aircraft utilisation is already full for both summer and winter schedule with the current frequencies on sale.
For winter the frequencies are
ACE x3
TFS x3
FAO x2
ALC x2
SSH x2
LCA x2

Agree about the name recognition but then Vueling seem to have done OK ex CWL (albeit on a much smaller program) and they weren’t particularly well known in South Wales (or indeed the UK) when they initially commenced operations.

Hopefully the CWL team will market aggressively especially amongst agents, given the route structure - and they could be seeing a resurgence when post Covid bookings pick up - given some of the poor experiences some travellers have experienced during this wretched pandemic getting through to and obtaining refunds from some tour operators.

I really think a 1 x weekly LPA or FUE would be stronger than 2 x weekly SSH. However as others have said maybe Wizz know something about this market or have a tie up or maybe hoping to attract people across the bridge as U2/FR don’t offer ex BRS.

RedDragonFlyer

This was once said of Vueling back in 2012...

TOM100

Wizz are at a slight advantage in that some people (not many) do know about them and have used them, probably from Luton or even BRS. Reading Cardiff Airports Facebook page generally feedback seems quite positive with many saying they have flown with then. Vueling were different as they had very little presence in the UK when they started CWL.
Vueling did however have a huge marketing campaign, if I remember correctcorrectly funding supported by CWL. Hopefully Wizz will get the same. There already appears to be a huge fanfair already in the news with BBC, Walesonline and even The Independent now covering the story, with a number of smaller news streams also covering the story.
Personally I think the one aircraft base with current routes is sufficient for now. Its a starting point for Wizz to get the name out there on decent demand routes while also allowing the rest of the industry to get back on its feet. Hopefully FR and VY will remain as they are and enough demand post covid is there for S21.

TOM100

I think they’re going with the hope of being the only lo-co in the entire South West / South Wales / Midlands region offering the service.

The only offering to SSH otherwise is TUI.

I too would not be surprised to see LPA and/or FUE added in somewhere. Hopefully!

I expect that SSH is there as a result of feedback from travel agents over the bridge it'll be curious to see if EZY respond to that.
Looking at route frequency and why certain routes arent there id suggest that Wizz wants to give people options of short breaks 10 day breaks as well as 7 and 14 day holidays hence why no gran canaria or summer lanzarote or Rhodes. It's likely those will be added if or when a 2nd aircraft gets based.

I would try and get through the next year with what they are offering first to see how that goes before considering expansion. Its odd that the other LoCos haven't done that much at CWL and EZY have stayed clear. What do they know that Wizz doesn’t?
Im cautiously cynical with Wizz and their random sudden expansions. What happened at Liverpool? Doncasters’ another one...
Time will tell but Id be surprised if all this Wizz expansion is in the same format in a year or two’s time (esp if slots appear at LGW)

PDXCWL45

Chance would be a fine thing - Wizz are as hostile to agents as Ryanair. Not even close on their radar.

VickersVicount

EZY had the South Wales Market happily using BRS. FR have a decent presence at BRS too so likely wouldn't want to dilute that. With Jet2 going to BRS and question marks over BRS expansion there likely wasn't room for Wizz and everyone to grow.
Wizz can use CWL as foothold into South Wales and even the Southwest market and start to compete with EZY and FR.

As for SSH its a risk as its always generally been a package holiday market but they have seen an opportunity as its only served by TUI in the area.