The Fight for Southern Italy Continues..ULCC Battle

Palermo, the capital of the Italian island of Sicily, is to become the 42nd base in Hungarian ULCC Wizz Air’s network.
The airline is stationing two Airbus A321 aircraft at the city’s Falcone Borsellino Airport (PMO) from June, enabling the launch of seven new routes. The expansion comes just five months after the carrier began its first service to the destination with flights from(MXP).
Wizz Air CCO George Michalopoulos said the base “underpins” the airline’s commitment to developing its presence in Italy, where it has three other bases.
“Wizz Air’s expansion will not only offer more affordable travel opportunities but will also contribute to the recovery of the local economies and in particular the recovery of the tourism industry,” he added.
Starting on June 1, Wizz will fly from PMO to four domestic destinations: Bologna (BLQ), Pisa (PSA), Turin (TRN) and Verona (VRN. Flights will be daily to BLQ and PSA, 4X-weekly to TRN and 3X-weekly to VRN.
A fifth new domestic route begins on June 2, linking the Sicilian city with Venice Treviso (TSF) five times per week. Two international routes also start on the same day: a 2X-weekly service to EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (EAP) and a 3X-weekly route to London Luton (LTN).
Wizz will face strong competition on all eight routes operating this summer from PMO, apart from to EAP where the latest OAG Schedules data shows it will be the only airline.
Plans for the new base were announced on the same day as Ryanair unveiled its own expansion strategy from PMO starting in June, increasing frequencies on all six domestic city pairs Wizz intends to operate from the airport.
Ryanair’s flights from PMO to MXP will increase from 21X-weekly to 24X-weekly, while 4X-weekly flights are being added to its TSF route, taking the service to 14X-weekly. BLQ, PSA, TRN and VRN will also grow by 2X-weekly frequencies each, expanding service to 16X-weekly for BLA and PSA, 12X-weekly for TRN and 9X-weekly for VRN.

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