Wizz Air to resume flights from Abu Dhabi to Larnaca and Sofia

Hungary's Wizz Air is bringing back some flights from Abu Dhabi, a little over a month after its Abu Dhabi unit ceased operations from the UAE capital.

The low-cost airline has reopened bookings to Cyprus's port city of Larnaca and Bulgaria's capital Sofia from November 15 and 17, respectively, according to scheduling information on its website.

The flights to both cities – marked as “new” on the destinations menu – will be operated by Wizz Air Hungary.

A Wizz Air representative confirmed to The National that "the airline keeps Abu Dhabi connected with Bucharest, Budapest, Katowice, Krakow, Larnaca and Sofia", with flights operated by Wizz Air Hungary and Wizz Air Malta.

Larnaca flights will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, though some Thursday services are not available in December and January. They are available until October 24, 2026.

The Sofia flights are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with some Wednesday services unavailable in December and January. They are available until March 27, 2026.

Wizz Air also serves Hungary's capital Budapest, Katowice and Krakow in Poland, and Romania's Bucharest Baneasa and Bucharest Otopeni airports.

Wizz Air said in July that it would exit its operations in Abu Dhabi from September 1 to focus on core markets after what it termed a “comprehensive reassessment” and “strategic realignment”.

The move comes as Abu Dhabi continues to welcome more passenger traffic across its airports.

The emirate's five airports reported a record 29.4 million travellers in 2024, up 28 per cent year-on-year, driven by growth at Zayed International Airport, which is home to Etihad Airways.

In 2024, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi carried more than 3.5 million passengers, up 20 per cent year-on-year, on 19,000 flights that offered 4.4 million seats. Load factor, a measure of how well an airline fills available seats, stood above 80 per cent last year.

The airline said it faced increasing operational challenges over the past year, including engine reliability problems, particularly in “hot and harsh environments”, which have affected aircraft availability and operational efficiency.

It has faced prolonged maintenance issues with Pratt & Whitney engines that have grounded dozens of aircraft in its all-Airbus fleet.