Abu Dhabi Was a Mistake — Wizz Air’s CEO Says He’ll Make More
Photo Credit: A Wizz Air Abu Dhabi Airbus A321neo. Wizz Air
Skift Take
Wizz Air was burned by its Abu Dhabi experiment. CEO József Váradi suggests that's the cost of pushing boundaries — and he intends to keep pushing.
Wizz Air CEO József Váradi has conceded that the airline’s Abu Dhabi expansion was an error. Asked if, in hindsight, it was a mistake to launch a subsidiary in the UAE, Váradi said simply: “Yes, it was.”
“Under the circumstances, when we made a decision, the decision looked good. We felt good about the decision, good about the factors we considered,” he told the CAPA Airline Leader Summit in Berlin.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, a joint venture launched in 2019 with local sovereign wealth fund ADQ, was built on the premise of expanding into high-demand routes such as India and Pakistan. It came to an abrupt end last summer.
ADQ did not respond to earlier requests for comment from Ski
