Wizz Air to launch flights to Vienna from Charleroi

Vienna-based Wizz Air is launching a new route to and from Brussels South Charleroi Airport on 1 July.

The airline will operate five flights a week between Charleroi and Vienna, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

This new route will compete with the night train service launched by Austrian rail operator ÖBB in January. It currently runs overnight trains to Vienna twice a week from Brussels and Liège. An additional journey planned for December will bring the frequency to three trains a week.

Wizz Air’s Airbus A321Neo (pictured), with capacity for 230 people, will leave Vienna at 13.30 and land at Brussels-Charleroi at approximately 15.20. The return flight to the Austrian capital will depart at 15.50, landing at Vienna-Schwechat at 17.40.

Operating from BSCA since 2004, the new connection is Wizz Air’s 14th direct route from the Walloon airport. 

“We are very grateful to Wizz Air for its confidence in us and the launch of this new route from its Austrian base. Despite this complex situation, it is important to think about tomorrow and future developments. The announcement of a new line is a positive sign and encourages us to roll up our sleeves and carry on preparing for a successful resumption of activities,” said BSCA chief executive Philippe Verdonck.

The announcement by the Charleroi airport comes as air traffic in Europe slowly starts to pick up following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Over a million fewer flights have operated across the European network compared with 2019,” said European air traffic manager Eurocontrol on the publication of its first recovery plan on Friday.

The first edition of the plan, covering a rolling four-week period, “marked an important step towards putting European aviation back in the air once more”, it said.

Updated by Eurocontrol on a weekly basis, the plan consolidates data from around 350 airlines, 68 area control centres (ACCs), 55 airports and 43 states.