Wizz Air is currently one of the financially strongest airlines in Europe, and Covid-19 has created more capacity available to explore new opportunities such as the launch of new routes from the capital Tirana, the company’s CCO George Michalopoulos said in an exclusive interview with Albanian Daily News.

The company took the decision to open a base and expand its operations in Tirana by looking at a long-term perspective, Michalopoulos said, adding that Wizz Air is not just looking to make profit in the next year but rather consolidate the market for the next 10-30 years.

According to Michalopoulos, the Covid-19 crisis will create a very different landscape for the aviation market in the coming years by creating new opportunities for Wizz Air.

Wizz Air will be a much bigger player in the market because of its financial strength to further expand while other airlines retreat and get smaller, the company’s CCO said.

Asked about the possibilities offered by the future opening of Kukes airport, Michalopoulos said Wizz Air is always open to operate in secondary airports.

- Mr, Michalopoulos, Wizz Air has already announced the launch of 15 new routes from the Albanian capital in a period of flight restrictions due to the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19). Which are your thoughts on this move and what are the company’s expectations about it?

-Wizz Air has been looking to the Albanian market for many years. We started operations in Albania in 2017 with the first route launched to Budapest, followed by the London service and then some flights to Germany and Italy, whereas this year, the spread of Covid-19 has created some new opportunities for us.

The first Wizz Air aircraft is already present in Tirana while the other two will land on July 15. We had the first flight from Tirana on the morning of July 1.

Wizz Air is currently one of the financially strongest airlines in Europe, and Covid-19 has created more capacity available to explore new opportunities such as the launch of new routes from the capital Tirana. The company took the decision that this would be the right year to make a further expansion. However, we are not new to the market since we have been in Albania for three years already. This is just the next step of expansion.

Despite the Covid-19 crisis, we are here for the long term and we made this investment to be here permanently.

-How do you see the opening of a new Wizz Air aircraft base at Tirana International Airport with three new aircrafts (two of them are to arrive in a couple of weeks) starting from July 1? How did it become possible?

-As I mentioned, the unique thing about Wizz Air at this point in time is the financial strength of the company and as opposed to many other airlines who deferred aircraft orders, Wizz Air has taken a very strong position not to defer a single aircraft order.

Wizz Air currently operates a fleet of 123 aircrafts. We have more than 260 aircrafts in order in the coming years and, when we look around Europe, we see this is really an opportunity for us to expand while other airlines retreat and get smaller. There will be opportunities in the market and our view is on the long-term perspective. Hopefully, there will be a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this year but our view is not just about making profit in the next year but rather about consolidating the market for the next 10, 20, 30 years.

-We would like to ask you, how do you predict the future of aviation after the Covid-19 crisis?

-I think this is a very interesting setup. There are different categories of airlines. There are financially strong airlines that are continuing to invest, such as Wizz Air, which is one of the biggest investors at the moment. Then we have a number of airlines which are being bailed out by their governments such as Lufthansa Group and Air France. And then we have some smaller airlines, some privately-owned and some government-owned. But, the government isn’t always in the position to bail them out, and I think we still don’t know how this is going to play out.

It’s still early days and a lot of airlines have simply stopped operations. I think it is easy to halt operations and resume at a later moment.

I assume there will be some more casualties in the airline market. There have been some casualties in the recent weeks, for example Level airline owned by the International Airlines Group (IAG) halted operations. I expect next year and 2022 to be a very different landscape for the aviation market and Wizz Air will be a much

bigger player in the market.

-According to the Albanian government, a new international airport - Kukës airport in the northern part of the country - is expected to start operations in the near future? Its opening has been delayed due to an upgrade project that is underway. Do you think Wizz Air would be interested in the future to launch flights from the new airport and how do you see this development for the aviation services in Albania and the region?

-We are very interested in the region. We have a base now in Tirana and we already have a base in Skopje. Wizz Air also operates individual flights to Pristina and Podgorica.

As for individual airport projects, there are a quite few in the region and as a low-cost airline we are always open to operate in secondary airports. The key is that the secondary airport should have the necessary infrastructure to accommodate an A320 or A321 aircraft. We are starting with A320 in Tirana but our long-term order is in the majority of cases an A321. A321 aircrafts are larger and require more extended infrastructure including a longer runway.

-The EU Council has officially recommended to lift travel restrictions on 15 countries from July 1, but it has excluded Albania despite the European Commission's recommendation of June 11 to include all Western Balkan countries in the list. Do you think the EU decision on Albania will influence the operations of Wizz Air in the country?

-Not from Wizz Air’s perspective. The decision is unfortunate but in our understanding it’s not a long-term decision. We have been living with the Covid-19 situation in the last three months and we have seen so many decisions get changed very quickly. I hope that this is not a situation that will last more than a couple of weeks.

However, we are relieved that there are no flight bans in Albania, and we are here for the long term to invest as well as develop tourism and further expand consumer services.

-Do you have a message to Albanians passengers wishing to travel with Wizz Air? Can you please provide updated information on the ticket prices for them? What is your main impression on Albania?

- My message to our customers is that Wizz Air is an extremely reliable airline and operates brand new technology. The company has the youngest aircraft fleet compared to any other airline company in Europe. Wizz Air has also the greenest technology in Europe.

The company has worked very hard in the recent period to optimize its sanitary procedures as a result of Covid-19 and apply all safety measures including masks and hand sanitizers.

Wizz Air works closely with the authorities in order to maximize safety measures in order for the customers to feel safe.

Wizz Air’s advantage is that it has been operating throughout the Covid-19 period. In April, the company operated only 3% of its capacity but it allowed it to put in order all the safety procedures. The technology used in the aircrafts’ air systems is similar to the technology used in intensive care units. This is another measure that gives more confidence for the customers.

On the other hand, Wizz Air offers very low fares. The company operates a variable pricing system. Customers should expect that in the majority of cases Wizz Air will be the cheapest alternative because it is one of the biggest low-cost airlines in Europe. The company operates the newest technology with the lowest fuel consumption and has a number of very well-negotiated airport deals in order to make it possible to offer the lowest prices to the customers.

If customers are looking for the lowest fares, they should go to Wizz Air’s website https://wizzair.com/.

Regarding my personal opinion on Albania, I have very positive impressions from the country. My wife is from Kosovo and her family has a place nearby Tirana, by the sea. I have visited the country several times and I know the area very well.

We are very happy to be in Albania after many years of discussions. We have started operations in 2017 but we have been looking at the market for over 10 years. Personally, as well as from the company’s standpoint, we are very happy to finally be here. We are also happy by the very strong reception from our customers.

I think Albania has been well served to Italy but it has been poorly served to the rest of Europe and now we have services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Hungary, Czech Republic, Greece, Greek islands, so we have a wide variety of routes. We have brought a wide network of possibilities in Albania.