Wizz Air is to end flights from Cardiff this month - less than a year after creating a base at the Welsh capital’s airport.
The budget carrier only opened its base at Cardiff in April 2022 when it offered services to nine destinations for the summer season.
Wizz Air has now announced that its flights from Cardiff will stop permanently from 25 January. The airline is currently operating just two routes from the airport to Milan and Bucharest after cutting back its winter schedule in September 2022.
Marion Geoffroy, managing director of Wizz Air UK, said: “The challenging macro-economic environment and high operational costs including fuel mean that unfortunately we are unable to continue operating from Cardiff airport.
“We sincerely apologise to our customers in Wales and the south-west of England for the disruption and inconvenience that this will cause.
“Our priority now is to ensure that all affected customers are contacted directly with clear advice on their options, and to look after our Cardiff-based colleagues and crew."
Wizz Air will continue to operate flights from eight UK airports, including Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick, Leeds, Liverpool and Luton.
Cardiff airport said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed” about Wizz Air’s decision.
“It is regrettable that Wizz Air has cited the economic climate as its reasons for withdrawing its operations out of Cardiff,” added the airport.
“There have been positive booking trends and very strong passenger demand to travel from Cardiff in 2022 and current booking trends for 2023 remains similar.”
The airport, which has been owned by the Welsh government for the past 10 years, also emphasised that four of its existing airlines, including Vueling, Ryanair and KLM, planned to fly to Wizz’s destinations from Cardiff.
Wizz’s sudden withdrawal of services from another UK airport, Doncaster Sheffield, last summer played a key part in the decision by its owners to close the airport because it was not deemed to be financially “viable”.