Natalya Kazmer, general director at Wizz Air Ukraine, says that Wizz Air’s low airfares are not an advertising gimmick or ploy, but part of the company’s philosophy.
Hungarian airline Wizz Air is set to launch domestic flights in Ukraine this summer, beginning with flights from Kyiv’s Boryspil airport to Lviv, Kharkiv, Simferopol and Odesa for less than the cost of a train ticket.
Wizz Air’s emergence in the Ukrainian airline market is set to grow and include flights to London Luton, Dusseldorf and Milan Bergamo in September 2008. Tickets will range from Hr 199299 ($42$63) oneway including taxes. Domestic flights will start at Hr 48 ($10).
Tickets went on sale on April 25 and 3,000 tickets have been sold so far, said Natalya Kazmer, general director at Wizz Air Ukraine.
“I bought tickets in two directions, Simferopol and Lviv,” said Viktoriya Braychenko, a marketing communications specialist at Ankor. “You can fly to Crimea every weekend in the summer for this price.”
Many Kyivans are excited about the low cost carrier coming to Ukraine. But Vyacheslav Konovalov a transport analyst for UBS, a Ukrainian business channel, believes Wizz Air’s cheap tickets aren’t likely to stay cheap for long. He believes Wizz Air will be forced to increase ticket prices that match the national airlines in Ukraine sometime in the near future.
“I think the current ticket sales are an attempt to study consumer demand and the flights will not take place. Wizz Air has already cancelled two promised flights to Kharkiv and Zaporizhya,” he said.
But Kazmer says cheap air ticket prices are not an advertising gimmick or part of a marketing ploy. “This is our company’s philosophy,” Kazmer explained. “We sell tickets at more democratic prices because we spend less.”
Wizz Air’s entrance into the Ukrainian market has Ukrainian airlines rethinking their fees. Aerosvit quickly reacted by slashing summer fares and announcing a summer seat sale. “We are already thinking over our strategy for when other economy air carriers arrive on the market,” said Serhiy Kutsyi, spokesperson for Aerosvit.
“Our company was among the first ones in Ukraine to practice discount ticket sales. We will proceed with it now,” said Kutsyi.
Aerosvit introduced three levels of ticket costs at discount prices for internal flights to Simferopol, Odesa and Lviv until July 14. The prices will range from Hr 45 ($9.50) to Hr 230 ($49), including all taxes. But, the discounted fares will only apply to certain flights, Kutsyi said.
How does Wizz Air do it? Many Ukrainians wonder how the discounted carrier can afford low fares. According to Wizz Air, they plan to sit on the tarmac just long enough to fill up the gas tank and get passengers off and on the plane. “An Airbus 320 costs about $66 million. This is a huge sum of money, which we will work off to the utmost,” said Kazmer. “The plane will stay on ground for only thirty minutes, the exact time necessary for passengers to leave the plane and new passengers to get in and to fill up the tank.”
The company will have four airplanes by 2009 and 15 by 2012.
Wizz Air Group plans to invest at least $1.5 billion into the development of Wizz Air Ukraine.
But, travelers should be prepared to pay extra for overweight luggage and inflight meals on Wizz Air flights. If baggage weighs more than 10 kilograms per person you will have to pay Hr 58 ($12) or more. If the luggage is 20 kilograms over the limit, each extra kilogram will cost about Hr 75 ($16).
“Additional payments are justified,” Kazmer explained. “If you don’t have luggage, you don’t have to pay for it. If you don’t want to eat, you don’t pay as well. All traditional companies include payments for such services into the ticket price.”
While some semibudget airlines, like airBaltic, offer cheap flights to select international destinations from Kyiv, this is the first fullfledged, lowfare carrier to come to Ukraine. The fouryearold Budapestbased company is hoping to take advantage of the growing demand for no frills flights. The company has carried close to 5 million passengers since 2004.
Meanwhile, Romaniabased air carrier Carpatair started roundtrip BucharestKyiv flights three times per week on June 2, a destination formerly unserviced from Kyiv.
“The Ukrainian market has an outstanding prospect for growth,” said Kazmer. “If the situation with visas gets more favorable in Ukraine, Ukrainians will indeed start flying more.”
Source: http://www.kyivpost.com
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