As the UK aviation sector recovers from the devastating impact of the pandemic, Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) and Wizz Air have strengthened plans for future growth with the signing of a new deal.
Marion Geoffrey, Wizz Air UK Managing Director has been in Doncaster today (Thursday October, 6) to celebrate the launch of a new growth deal.
She said: “I’m very happy to be in Doncaster for the first time today.
“This partnership started a long time ago but due to the pandemic was put on hold.
“Doncaster has huge potential for growth.
“It already has the infrastructure and it will not require much to see progress.”
This new deal comes as restrictions on international travel continue to relax and ahead of a predicted strong recovery for 2022, with increased demand for flights to popular leisure destinations such as Spain, Turkey and Portugal.
Wizz Air has a growth plan which will see 1.5 million seats on sale between April and October of 2022.
In addition Wizz Air will have 250,000 seats on sale for winter 2021 (November 2021 to March 2022), with flights to the Canary Islands, Cyprus, Latvia and Poland.
Marion said: “This winter people can travel to some great European cities for Christmas.
“And of course fly to places such as Turkey and the Balearic islands next summer.
“It’s fantastic that people don’t have to leave Doncaster to travel to such destinations.
“There are great countries out there to discover.”
Read More
Read More
Here are the latest convictions from Doncaster Magistrates’ Court
As part of the new agreement, a number of additional new routes are on sale for Summer 2022 including Spain, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Portugal, Bulgaria and Crete.
Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Tenerife are also on the list alongside Riga, Krakow and Warsaw.
All of these new flights will lead to the creation of new jobs.
Marion said: “This deal will create local jobs.
“Each new aircraft makes hundreds of jobs – just one plane needs at least 35 cabin crew and a pilot.
“Then with more planes there is higher demand inside the airport for staff in areas such as hospitality.
“It then trickles out into the local town with jobs in hotels for passengers who wish to stay overnight before a flight.
“We want people who are interested in an adventure to apply for the roles.”
Wizz Air is committed to being as sustainable as possible.
“Sustainability has always been on our agenda,” Marion said.
“We have 239 seats on our aircrafts to maximise the amount of passengers we can take on a flight.
“We use the latest technology to improve the way we fly.
“Our fleet is very young and we are constantly replacing older aircrafts with new ones.
“If every other airline in Europe did what we did there would be a 34 per cent reduction in CO2.”
Travel has not been possible for many over the pandemic but Marion wants to help passengers gain confidence back in air travel.
She said: “Many people may be travelling for the first time in two years.
“They may feel uncertain and anxious about the measures but we are doing everything we can to keep our passengers informed.
“We want people to feel confident flying with us.
“We know the government restrictions can change on a weekly basis sometimes so we always make sure our website is updated so that passengers can avoid any bad surprises.”
Kate Stow, director of aviation development and corporate affairs at DSA, said:”This new deal with Wizz Air is wonderful news for our customers across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Nottinghamshire, offering them a greater choice of ultra low cost flights to more destinations from one of the fastest growing airports in the UK, now and into the future.
“Airports are an important economic catalyst, providing jobs and inward investment to the region and it has been a real honour to welcome Wizz Air’s team here to meet the new crew based here at DSA.
“Our project growth of 56 per cent next year versus the trading period prior to the pandemic means we’ve bucked the industry trend and we look forward to more customers enjoying our easy, friendly and relaxed service as we embark on our impressive recovery.”
In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Liam Hoden, editor.
Credit: Source link
