Wizz Air has joined the increasingly long line of budget carriers that are looking to appeal to a wider customer base by rolling out certain premium options. In the case of the purple-liveried Hungarian ultra-low-cost giant, upcoming tests will see certain middle seats blocked on some flights to gauge demand from business travelers, as well as operational viability. The move marks an interesting step for Wizz Air.
Having initially built its operating model on a backbone of leisure and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) traffic, the growth of the ULCC’s fleet and network has allowed it to expand its customer base. With this latest initiative, it is specifically targeting ‘low-cost’ business travelers who want that bit of extra space to work on a flight but, due to owning a small business, don’t want to pay such a high premium.
Introducing Wizz Class
The concept for Wizz Air’s new product with which it intends to target business travelers, known as Wizz Class, was unveiled at a media event earlier today. Here, the airline’s Chief Commercial and Operations Officer, Michael Delehant, explained that testing for the concept will begin in December on certain flights out of five of Wizz Air’s European bases: Bucharest, Budapest, London, Rome, and Warsaw.
As opposed to conventional European short-haul business class cabins, where several rows have blocked middle seats to provide premium guests with more space, Wizz Class will likely only apply to the first row, which also has extra legroom. Delehant explained that the move comes off the back of requests from front-row passengers to offer such a product to give them more space and a quicker exit. He added:
“While we’re very much about density and flying full aircraft, in terms of what we’re doing with the extra legroom in the front row, we’ve had a lot of requests from [business] customers.”
Phased Testing For The Blocked Middle Seats
An important thing to note about the proposed business traveler product is that the aforementioned tests, which will begin in December, will be of a phased nature. This means that not all flights from the five bases mentioned above will have the product, which will be subject to availability.
Furthermore, today’s presentation suggested that the product will be a seat-only affair, rather than a fully-fledged European short-haul business class product with all the bells and whistles to go along with the blocked middle seat, such as meals and lounge access. Still, Wizz Air is confident that its new offering will appeal to a core demographic of business travelers who are looking to keep their flying costs down.
Another piece of good news for Wizz Air’s business travelers is the fact that the carrier is also testing lightweight onboard connectivity solutions. Delehant observed that, in today’s world, people want to remain connected even while in the air, so it is looking into being able to provide a service that enables both online messaging and streaming, as well as digital ordering. This will be known as ‘Wizz Play’
Third Wave Of ‘All You Can Fly’ Memberships
Aside from these steps forward in passenger experience for business travelers at Wizz Air, which bear parallels to developments at US-based ULCCs such as Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines, the carrier also had good news for frequent flyers at today’s presentation. Specifically, it is launching a third wave of its ‘All You Can Fly’ membership, which first came into existence in March 2024 in collaboration with Caravelo.
As part of the third wave, Wizz Air explains that “10,000 memberships will be available for purchase across 34 countries.” Those who sign up have to pay €499 ($581.75) to join, with their membership giving them unlimited flights for 12 months, subject to a €9.99 ($11.65) booking fee each time.
Wizz Air notes that “the launch of the third phase follows incredible demand for the membership to date“, adding that “subscribers have flown an average of nine times each per year” following the launch. Going forward, members will also be able to pay to add checked bags and priority boarding.
