In a highly intriguing development, Wizz Air UK has applied for a US foreign air carrier permit. If approved, it’d be allowed to commence charter and scheduled transatlantic flights. The UK ultra-low-cost unit has applied under the UK-US Open Skies Agreement. The airline has been contacted for comment.

In 2022, Wizz Air Hungary—the Group’s original unit—applied to serve the US with its then-A330 freighter, which had a Hungary Air Cargo livery. It had one frame that operated on behalf of Hungary’s government. However, its application was refused.

Wizz Air UK Applies To Fly To The US

On January 23, the ultra-low-cost operator applied to the US Department of Transportation for permission to commence flights. Of course, no further details about anything—expected launch date or month, routes, from which UK airports, etc.—are currently known. The same authority recently approved Parata Air to start US services.

Given Wizz Air’s UK air operator’s certificate and operating license, along with the open skies policy, its application will likely be approved. However, it’ll face substantial objections from US unions. In fact, it received considerable disapproval in its 2022 application, and that was just for proposed freight operations.

Obtaining permission does not mean it’ll actually launch flights. However, it stated that it « requests expedited review and processing of this application to allow it to begin the proposed services as soon as possible, » though this could just be a formality. That said, its desire for a speedy decision is probably sincere, especially given an upcoming major sporting event that will be partly held in the US.

If it does receive approval, it’d need many other things, such as an extended-range twin-engine operations performance standard (ETOPS) certificate and specially trained pilots, which means additional costs and complications. It could perhaps circumvent the ETOPS requirement by flying closer to land, but that’d add duration and reduce range. It did not have ETOPS when its now-defunct Wizz Air Abu Dhabi unit flew from the UAE to the Maldives, and instead flew near India.

Charter Flights Or Scheduled Operations?

Wizz Air has stated that it’d start with charter flights to the US, but that it wants the flexibility to add scheduled services in the future. This is likely to be just a technicality to avoid the hassle and complication of applying separately another time. Not that I think they’ll begin regular flights.

The best guess is that it wants to carry fans to/from the US for the World Cup. It has a form for carrying passengers for such reasons. For example, it has operated from London Luton to Frankfurt for football purposes in the past. Like its normal routes, tickets were available for purchase on its website. And in the run-up to the games, some highly attractive fares were bookable. Of course, any US fares would be considerably higher than $29, which wouldn’t even be a fraction of the taxes.

It’d be much more exciting if they were keen to begin regular services, but that had always been roundly condemned by the carrier’s management. Still, Wizz Air’s longest route is currently blocked at nearly seven hours, which is similar to some Northeast US flight durations.

When its application was submitted, I wondered whether it was purely coincidental that Aer Lingus plans to close its Manchester base and end its three transatlantic routes. They include New York JFK, which will now be operated solely by Virgin Atlantic, while United does not operate from Newark. There will be a big capacity gap, which could be attractive. And as approximately 70% of Manchester-US passengers are from the UK, Wizz Air’s strong brand awareness could play an important role, though it currently serves Liverpool for the broader region.

It’s a similar situation at Gatwick, where Wizz Air UK’s A321XLRs are based. British Airways, Delta Air Lines, and JetBlue ended Gatwick-JFK flights recently, leaving Norse Atlantic. As such, there are substantially fewer Gatwick services. But that perhaps reflects in part the overall situation and the lower demand to/from the US.

Wizz Air Has Always Said No To Scheduled US Flights, So…

Until the airline says anything publicly about the application, I’d not read too much into it beyond the likelihood of charter flights for the World Cup. I’d park any chat about possible scheduled flights, which would completely fly in the face of everything the carrier has stated before.

The Group’s CEO, József Váradi, has suggested on multiple occasions that it’d be foolish to start US services. In 2024, for example, he stated that, « We don’t want to be buried in the ocean, because that’s what has happened to all the other airlines that have tried it. We have so many other opportunities, so I am just not excited about the North Atlantic. »