Wizz Air has announced two new routes from central Italy to Bucharest and Cluj Napoca. The move is highly functional to the cultural and economic growth of the regions involved.
Wizz Air’s New Routes
From the 13th and 14th of December, respectively, Wizz Air will operate the flights from Bucharest to Ancona and Perugia to Cluj Napoca. Both flights will be 1 hour and 40 minutes in duration, operating on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The flights will most likely be operated with the newest Airbus A321NEO.
The move has been cheered by Perugia’s Director of Airport Operation, Umberto Solimero, and by the president of Marche, Francesco Acquaroli.
But why has Wizzair decided to connect such small regional airports to Romania, and what is the reason behind this move?
How Wizz Air will help local minorities and tourism
To start this analysis, we have to know two facts, there are 1.8 million people in Italy that migrated from Romania and Albania. Those minorities are the biggest ones in Italy, making up 50% of total migrants, who also tend to be the most established and wealthiest. And they all need a connection to their homelands.
For the notorious Albanian minority, both Ancona and Perugia used to operate 3 flights a day to Tirana, before the pandemic reduced it to 2. Albawings and Ryanair used to be the main frontrunners of this competition before Wizz Air also started to fly the Perugia to Tirana and Ancona to Tirana routes as well.
Now, Wizz Air has started to realize that the demand from the huge Romanian community to connect them to their ţară (homeland) is not to be ignored.
There are many Romanians that travel every day to central Italy to work, meet their families, come for a holiday and to study. As Romania grows as a country, thanks to the air links from/to other countries, Italians are also now given a chance to visit Romania, the start of a strong bond between the two countries. Aviation-wise, there are more than 50 routes now between the 2 nations.
Final remarks for Wizz Air’s New Routes
From a cultural and sociological standpoint, the new routes not only benefit Wizz Air’s cash flow but also benefit the connection and understanding between the two sister cultures and favour integration. Seeing this phenomenon unfold, makes us wonder, once African communities become wealthier and more integrated, will we see an increase in flights to African countries (from regional airports) in the same way now we see flights between Western Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union?
Let us know your thoughts on Wizz Air’s new routes in the comments below!
