Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing and most sustainable airline, has announced an expansion to its network, entailing as many as 20 new routes from Europe to Saudi Arabia. By next year, Wizz plans to offer more than one million seats from various European destinations to Riyadh, Jedda, and Dammam, with prices starting at $54.89. Tickets for all routes are already on sale on wizzair.com and the airline’s mobile app. The budget carrier"s program is part of Saudi Arabia"s Vision 2030 program, which is meant to triple the country"s passenger traffic by the end of the decade. Earlier this year, Wizz signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia, supported by the Saudi National Air Connectivity Programme, to support the development of the Saudi tourism sector. With the latest expansion, Saudi Arabia will now receive low-cost, point-to-point connections with Bucharest, Budapest, Catania, Larnaca, Milan, Naples, Rome, Sofia, Tirana, Venice, and Vienna, as well as Abu Dhabi. Enabling increased connectivity, the new ultra-low-cost routes will provide greater accessibility for travelers from Europe looking to make their way to the region before, during, and after the World Cup. Increasing the range of options and competitiveness of airlines serving Saudi will further reduce the cost of travel. Fahd Hamidaddin, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board at the Saudi Tourism Authority, said, "Today’s announcement of 20 new routes to Saudi is one of the largest such announcements anywhere in the world. It is a real first for Wizz Air and for Saudi, and opens a new and affordable gateway for visitors from Europe that will allow everyone to come and explore the world’s most exciting new destination. We are making it easier than ever to get to Saudi and are confident that increased travel options and competitiveness will expand consumer choice and drive down costs.” József Varadi, CEO of Wizz, commented, “Today’s announcement follows the Memorandum of Understanding we recently signed with the government enabling us to contribute to Saudi tourism’s growth and its entire ecosystem. I see the Kingdom as a long-term strategic market for Wizz Air where we will continue to innovate and carry the flag of low cost flying for the benefit of Saudi residents and visitors as well as the country’s diversifying economy.” The CEO of The Air Connectivity Program, Khalil Lamrabet, said: "We are pleased to have been able to work with Wizz Air to grow its network to Saudi Arabia; the announced routes are a testament to the strong traffic potential that the Kingdom has to offer. We look forward to welcoming these new flights into the Kingdom’s expanding network and to working with Wizz Air to explore other route opportunities in Saudi Arabia." The CEO of Matarat, Mohammed Ahmed Almowkley, said: "We at Matarat are working with our partners and airline companies to provide an attractive environment at Saudi airports for airlines and passengers to offer better choices with high-quality services, and this work is an extension to the previous announcement with Wizz Air to operate direct flights from King Fahd International Airport to three diverse international destinations. Matarat will continue on this path to achieve the National Aviation Strategy objectives which are part of the Saudi 2030 vision." — SPA