\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/GettyImages-2153630889-e1725966946490.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Budget airline Wizz Air, routinely ranked as the worst airline in Europe, is betting its customers will \u201csuffer the pain\u201d of grueling long-haul budget flights as it introduced a new Airbus fleet capable of eight-hour journeys.<\/p>\n
Speaking as it unveiled a new set of Airbus A321 XLR light-body aircraft, Wizz Air CEO J\u00f3zsef V\u00e1radi was confident passengers would snap up low-cost seats on flights capable of record distances for the airline.<\/p>\n
The new Airbus planes allow Wizz Air to increase its maximum flight time from six hours to eight. The aircraft\u2019s first route will start flying from London Gatwick to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, next March.<\/p>\n
Fares will start at just \u00a3134.99 for U.K. passengers, while it will be cheaper still from Jeddah owing to the U.K.\u2019s air passenger duty charge. Flights from London to Jeddah are expected to last seven hours, while flights the other way will take just over seven hours.<\/p>\n
Wizz Air expects to add 250,000 extra seats from London on the new aircraft next year.<\/p>\n
The seats will be the same configuration as on Wizz\u2019s shorter-haul flights, meaning passengers won\u2019t get the option to recline on their laborious trip to Saudi Arabia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The idea of sitting on a Wizz Air flight for upwards of seven hours isn\u2019t for the faint-hearted. The no-frills airline has been ranked Europe\u2019s worst by Which?<\/a> for two consecutive years, receiving just one star for both seat comfort and cabin environment and two stars in every other category.<\/p>\n The airline was also more likely to split up groups of passengers who didn\u2019t pay for seat selection. An eight-hour flight is a significant amount of time to be separated from your flying companion.<\/p>\n Some 44% of Wizz Air passengers surveyed by Which? reported some sort of problem with their trip.<\/p>\n Wizz CEO V\u00e1radi dismissed the idea that passengers might balk at the prospect of enduring an eight-hour flight on his airline\u2019s single-aisle, non-reclined seats.<\/p>\n \u201cLook back 15-20 years ago, I thought three hours would test passenger tolerance,\u201d V\u00e1radi told reporters at a press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think that economics are so crucial to people\u2026 that when you take a light body aircraft of any kind, and you take economy versus what most people do, you sacrifice some level of comfort.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are not on a flatbed. You suffer the pain if you wish for the economic benefits that you are deriving from the transaction,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n V\u00e1radi said Wizz had no intention of looking to the West to operate budget flights across the Atlantic to the U.S. with its new aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be bullied in the ocean,\u201d V\u00e1radi said, indicating a lack of competitiveness in the transatlantic market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nStay on top of the tech world with these Fortune newsletters:<\/strong>
Data Sheet: <\/strong> Get the download on the business of technology with thoughtful analysis on the industry’s biggest names. Sign up.<\/a>
\nCIO Intelligence:<\/strong> Stay plugged in on the news and issues shaping the role of the CIO every week. Sign up.<\/a>
\nEye on AI:<\/strong> Learn how artificial intelligence and machine learning are revolutionizing the future of business. Sign up.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n