Hungary's Wizz Air, one of the main low-cost airlinesdomestically, says it carried 1.65 million passengers last year,87% more than in the previous year, the biggest increase on theentire Romanian airline market.
Wizz Air is the second airline that reports traffic figures forlast year, besides Tarom state-owned operator, which announced itflew 1.7 million passengers, 13% less than in 2008.
However, the representatives of the Hungarian operator chose notto provide any information about the level of turnover or incomethey generated on the Romanian market last year. According to ZFcalculations, against an average income of 100 euros per passenger,Wizz Air collected more than 100m euros.
"The company continued to develop in Romania in 2009, whileother airlines went out of business or struggled to survive (MyAir, Sky Europe i.e.). In 2009, the base in Timisoara was launchedand transportation capacities doubled to six aircraft," statedJozsef Varadi, Wizz Air CEO.
The company's officials estimate the number of passengers willrevolve around two million in 2010, on routes from and to Romania,up 21% from 2009, as the company is set to expand its routenetwork.
Last year, the Hungarian company introduced 16 new routes on theRomanian market and is going to launch new destinations this year,according to its representatives.
The low-cost operator has three bases in Romania, in Bucharest,Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara, being serviced by a fleet of sixaircraft.
The company's officials announced they would allocate anotheraircraft for the Cluj base, for new flights to Pisa and Turinstarting June 2010. The Timisoara-Forli/Pisa flight will beoperated starting March, while flights from Bucharest to Pisa willbe available starting June.
Internationally, the company, with 11 hubs in Central andEastern Europe, transported 7.8 million passengers in 2009, 33%more than in 2008.
