Wizz Air, a low-cost airline based in Europe, has decided to suspend plans to resume flights between Abu Dhabi and Moscow, announced earlier this month.
The route, which had been interrupted in February after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was due to be relaunched on 3 October by the UAE subsidiary.
However, the negative reaction to the announcement on social networks, with calls for boycotts of the airline, would have motivated the retreat – Wizz Air did not mention the repercussion in its decision.
In response on Twitter, the airline tried to argue that the flight between Abu Dhabi and Moscow would be operated by a company registered in the UAE and therefore not involved in European sanctions against Russia – the Hungarian and UK divisions of Wizz Air suspended their flights to the country.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is controlled by an Emirati sovereign wealth fund, which owns 51% of the shares. The airline has just four A321neo aircraft, but is expected to receive two more planes from Airbus soon.
In social networks, there were celebrations for the retreat of Wizz Air, which has among its partners the investment fund Indigo Partners, which also owns the carriers Frontier Airlines, Volaris and JetSmart.
