France routes in doubt as Wizz Air reduces flights from Gatwick
Airline will begin relocating planes to Luton but will not pull out of West Sussex airport entirely
The airline will focus on more profitable routes from London Luton
Petr Leczo/Shutterstock
Low-cost carrier Wizz Air will begin cutting services from London Gatwick airport, as the airline’s head says routes are losing the company money.
High operating fees and inferior time slots are behind the move, which will see some planes based at Gatwick moved to nearby London Luton.
One plane is set to be moved in the near future, bringing the number of Wizz Air aircraft based at Luton to 13, reducing the number in Gatwick to seven.
This is the first step of an ‘ongoing process’ to shift resources, however the airline will not abandon Gatwick entirely according to Wizz Air Chief Executive József Váradi.
Currently, the Hungarian carrier operates two winter season services to France from Gatwick, to Grenoble and Lyon.
The only scheduled flight between Luton and France is to Grenoble, flying once per week January - March 2026 and October (31) - December 2026.
The airline has recently announced an expansion from France to non-UK routes, particularly from Bordeaux.
Gatwick victim of its own success
“Gatwick is expensive and we have been operating an inferior set of slots there. We think that we can enhance financial performance by operating that capacity from Luton,” said Mr Váradi.
“Circumstances change and you have to take action. Whichever bases give you the most profitability, you should be biased toward them. That includes moving aircraft over,” he added.
Gatwick is the UK’s second-busiest airport and is consistently close to its maximum capacity, making new time slots scarce. When they are available they can be expensive to newcomers not established at the airport.
A new £2.2 billion runway to improve capacity is being built by converting a former emergency landing strip at the airport but is not set to be operational until the 2030s.
It will allow for an estimated 100,000 extra flights per year.
Despite the difficulties highlighted by Wizz Air, fellow low-cost carrier Jet2 is looking to expand into Gatwick, basing seven aircraft at the airport from 2026 onwards.
The West Sussex airport is a major hub for easyJet.
