Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air will start operating flights from the airport in Satu Mare, northern-western Romania, thus reaching ten airports it serves in the local market.

Wizz Air will operate flights from Satu Mare to London Luton starting October 31, the company announced. The flights will be operated twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. Tickets are already available on the airline’s website, for prices that start from RON 109 (EUR 24.5).

Wizz Air will be the first airline to operate international flights from the airport in Satu Mare, said George Michalopoulos, Chief Commercial Officer Wizz Air.

The first Wizz Air flight from Romania took off from Bucharest in 2007. The airline now operates 120 routes from ten Romanian airports to 18 countries. Its local team consists of more than 600 employees.

The company wants to increase its local fleet to 20 aircraft by end-2016, including four new Airbus A321 planes with 230 seats. This year, Wizz Air announced and already started operating 28 new routes that connect Romania to other European countries, including the first internal route that connects Bucharest to Cluj-Napoca.

In the last 12 months (ending August 31), Wizz Air transported more than 5 million passengers to and from Romania.

In August this year, the airline inaugurated its seventh base in Romania, at Sibiu.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com