Hungary's Wizz Air, one of the main low-cost airlines domestically, says it carried 1.65 million passengers last year, 87% more than in the previous year, the biggest increase on the entire Romanian airline market.
Wizz Air is the second airline that reports traffic figures for last year, besides Tarom state-owned operator, which announced it flew 1.7 million passengers, 13% less than in 2008.
However, the representatives of the Hungarian operator chose not to provide any information about the level of turnover or income they generated on the Romanian market last year. According to ZF calculations, 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, while other airlines went out of business or struggled to survive (My Air, Sky Europe i.e.). In 2009, the base in Timisoara was launched and transportation capacities doubled to six aircraft," stated Jozsef Varadi, Wizz Air CEO.
The company's officials estimate the number of passengers will revolve around two million in 2010, on routes from and to Romania, up 21% from 2009, as the company is set to expand its route network.
Last year, the Hungarian company introduced 16 new routes on the Romanian 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 six aircraft.
The company's officials announced they would allocate another aircraft for the Cluj base, for new flights to Pisa and Turin starting June 2010. The Timisoara-Forli/Pisa flight will be operated starting March, while flights from Bucharest to Pisa will be available starting June.
Internationally, the company, with 11 hubs in Central and Eastern Europe, transported 7.8 mi
