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Wizz Air plans to expand the all-you-can-fly subscription service it launched last month to "engage with its loyal customer base" and to further build its brand in all of its markets, its chief executive has said.
The airline is exploring offering an additional 60,000 passes within the next three months to travellers as part of its annual subscription scheme, Jozsef Varadi, Wizz Air's chief executive, told The National on Monday.
This comes after it issued 10,000 passes in August for “unlimited flights" to any destination on its route network that sold out within 24 hours.
"Clearly, the market reaction suggests that it was more popular than we thought. We just want to make sure that we execute this properly and this is what we are fine-tuning at the moment," Mr Varadi said.
"Once that platform is developed very shortly, we are going to expand that ... we are looking at possibly going for 60,000 annual passes once the expansion takes place. I would say this is probably in a couple of months or three months. That would cover our entire footprint, including the Middle East."
Wizz Air’s latest promotion invited travellers to pay €500 ($552) for 12 months of "unlimited flights to any destination on its network".
When these 10,000 passes sold out quickly, the airline put an additional 4,000 passes on sale for €600, an airline representative said. The Middle East’s share of these passes was about 20 per cent of the total, the representative said. The planned batch of 60,000 passes will also be sold for €600 each.
While the airline is seeking to "enhance engagement" with loyal customers, the subscription service also has its limitations, Mr Varadi said. "The product is offered to you with significant limitations: so you can only book three days before travelling and this is subject to availability. So it's not like you buy a very cheap pass and you do whatever you want with it," he said.
Wizz Air is also seeking to strike a balance between providing consumers with a fair deal and making money out of the scheme.
"You have to make sure that the limitations make sense to the consumer but that it also makes sense to the company, so that it's a win-win," Mr Varadi said.
"If you push the win over to the consumer, then this is just going to be losing money for the company. But if you kind of abuse your profit opportunity, then it's going to dissatisfy the consumer. So you have to strike the right balance and this is what we're trying to figure out. For us, it is about really enhancing the brand through consumer engagement to build loyalty even further."
Wizz Air, which bills itself as Europe's greenest airline, is introducing its flight subscription service at a time when environmental groups are condemning the global aviation sector's contribution to carbon dioxide emissions during a climate crisis.
Asked about the environmental concerns that the airline's latest promotion may raise, the chief executive said the scheme is helping to fill more airline seats to run full flights, which is more environmentally efficient.
"Think about this: what this product achieves is to fill the empty seats on airplanes, so as opposed to putting up another flight, I am actually creating more efficiency in the operation. So that's more sustainable because I still fly increased demand with the same aircraft. I am not adding another aircraft ... this is more sustainable," Mr Varadi said.
Travellers who purchased passes can now fly to destinations such as the Maldives, Iceland and Italy, with no routes excluded from the membership.
Wizz Air’s MultiPass, a 12-month subscription plan, allows subscribers to travel each month on eligible flights by paying a monthly fixed fee.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
All about the Sevens
Cape Town Sevens on Saturday and Sunday: Pools A – South Africa, Kenya, France, Russia; B – New Zealand, Australia, Spain, United States; C – England, Scotland, Argentina, Uganda; D – Fiji, Samoa, Canada, Wales
HSBC World Sevens Series standing after first leg in Dubai 1 South Africa; 2 New Zealand; 3 England; 4 Fiji; 5 Australia; 6 Samoa; 7 Kenya; 8 Scotland; 9 France; 10 Spain; 11 Argentina; 12 Canada; 13 Wales; 14 Uganda; 15 United States; 16 Russia
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
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- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
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The Greatest Royal Rumble card
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
New schools in Dubai
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
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- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Draw:
Group A: Egypt, DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi
Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania
Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola
Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
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