The new additions bring the Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to full capacity after travel restrictions were eased in the UAE capital. Photo: Wizz Air
The new additions bring the Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to full capacity after travel restrictions were eased in the UAE capital. Photo: Wizz Air
The new additions bring the Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to full capacity after travel restrictions were eased in the UAE capital. Photo: Wizz Air
The new additions bring the Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to full capacity after travel restrictions were eased in the UAE capital. Photo: Wizz Air

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Wizz Air Abu Dhabi adds low-cost flights to 7 new destinations including Oman and Egypt

The budget airline will also fly to Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with fares from Dh109

Hayley Skirka
Hayley Skirka

October 04, 2021

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Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is adding flights to seven more destinations from the UAE.

The low-cost airline is launching flights to Muscat, Almaty in Kazakhstan and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It will also begin flying from Abu Dhabi to Sohag in Egypt, Odessa in Ukraine, Baku in Azerbaijan and to Kutaisi in Georgia.

The move brings the UAE's newest airline to full capacity after travel restrictions were eased in Abu Dhabi.

Starting this week, the airline adds Sarajevo and Odessa to its network, with two flights per week to the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ukrainian port city, respectively.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will launch cheap flights from the UAE to Muscat from October 31, with fares from Dh109. Photo: Ritz-Carlton
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will launch cheap flights from the UAE to Muscat from October 31, with fares from Dh109. Photo: Ritz-Carlton

Then, from Sunday, October 31, the airline will commence flights to Muscat from Abu Dhabi. Wizz Air will operate three flights a week to the Omani capital, with fares from only Dh109, giving travellers another affordable option for a short break to the sultanate.

In December, Almaty, Sohag, Baku and Kutaisi will join the Wizz Air network. Tickets are already on sale for all seven destinations.

Wizz Air Hungary to move Dubai flights to Abu Dhabi

Wizz Air Hungary will move its UAE flights to Abu Dhabi from April 2022. Photo: Wizz Air
Wizz Air Hungary will move its UAE flights to Abu Dhabi from April 2022. Photo: Wizz Air

Wizz Air Hungary will also start flying to Abu Dhabi from April next year.

The airline is launching flights to Dubai from Catania in Italy, Katowice in Poland and Cluj-Napoca, one of Romania's largest cities, this week.

From next year, Wizz Air Hungary flights destined for the UAE will move from Dubai and instead fly to the capital.

“Wizz Air Abu Dhabi continues to demonstrate the popularity of its services by adding more routes to its network as pandemic restrictions are lifted across the world and notably in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The UAE residents are itching for the chance to enjoy world-class culture and entertainment destinations,” said Kees Van Schaick, managing director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.

“Our network from Abu Dhabi will expand rapidly as travel restrictions ease up, getting a significant boost when Wizz Air Hungary will start operating its flights to Abu Dhabi as of April 2022."

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi also plans to add another aircraft to its fleet. The fourth A321neo will join the budget airline in the UAE by the end of this year. This will allow more flights to be added to the network, with plans in place for services to Alexandria, Belgrade, Kiev and Tirana.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: October 04, 2021, 11:30 AM
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