Wizz Air Abu Dhabi marks arrival of its first Airbus A321 Neo

Low-cost airline to take delivery of more planes in the first six months of operations

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air. Reuters

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, a joint venture between the Hungarian budget airline and Abu Dhabi state holding company ADQ, took delivery of its first Airbus A321 Neo at Abu Dhabi International Airport as it prepares to begin operations next month.

More A321neo aircraft will be added to the Wizz Air Abu Dhabi fleet in the first six months of operations as it connects the UAE capital with cities in Europe and beyond, the airline said in a statement on Sunday. The route network planned on these aircraft will be announced "in due course", it said.

"With the arrival of our first aircraft to Abu Dhabi we have made an important step on our journey towards starting our operations and developing our presence in Abu Dhabi," Kees Van Schaick, managing director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, said.

The airline previously announced it would begin operations on October 1, with six new routes connecting the UAE capital with Europe and Egypt.

It will initially fly to Alexandria in Egypt, Greek capital Athens, Kutaisi in Georgia, Larnaca on the southern coast of Cyprus, the Black Sea port city of Odesa in Ukraine and Armenia's capital, Yerevan.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will become the UAE's sixth carrier after Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, another joint venture between Sharjah-based Air Arabia and Etihad Airways that began operations in July.

Wizz Air Holdings will speed up the rate of new plane deliveries from Airbus, taking advantage of deferrals from other customers to feed its own expansion, Bloomberg reported in July.

The Hungarian low-cost airline will receive about 30 A321 Neo jets in 2021, five more than it previously expected, chief executive Jozsef Varadi said in an interview with Bloomberg.