Wizz Air Holdings PLC (PLC:WIZZ) has confirmed that its new Abu Dhabi joint venture airline will fly to and from six destinations from October 1, 2020.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will be given national carrier status from the UAE government, the FTSE 250 company said, presuming it meets regulatory standards.
A joint-venture with Abu Dhabi's state-owned development agency, ADQ, the airline will initially be based around two Airbus A321neo aeroplanes, with four more added in the first six months, Wizz Air said.
The initial network will span six new routes: to Alexandria, Athens, Kutaisi, Larnaca, Odessa and Yerevan, with the company already flying to the Emirati city from Bucharest, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca, Katowice and Sofia.
Wizz, which shook hands with ADQ over an original arrangement in January, has previously said the airline will fly routes to elsewhere in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
“This announcement is the first step of a long and much-awaited journey as we are dedicated to developing our presence in Abu Dhabi, contributing to Abu Dhabi's economic diversity strategy,” József Váradi, Wizz Air's chief executive said in a statement.