A BUDGET  airline offering the people of South and West Wales cheap getaways and low-cost trips made a major announcement about its operations at Cardiff Airport. 

Today, January 10, Wizz Air confirmed its operations at Cardiff Airport will cease permanently later this month. 

Following a reduction in Wizz Air’s Cardiff flight schedules announced last September, its two remaining winter routes to Milan and Bucharest will cease to operate from January 25.

Affected customers will be notified via e-mail and can opt for either a 120 per cent refund of the original fare in airline credit, a 100 per cent cash refund, or an alternative flight via Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick, Leeds, Liverpool or London Luton.

All Cardiff-based employees will be offered redeployment opportunities at other Wizz Air bases in the UK.

Wizz Air says it remains committed to long-term growth in the UK, creating hundreds of jobs while stimulating the tourism and hospitality industries.

The airline will continue to operate at eight UK airports, flying over 120 routes and serving over 5 million customers in the UK.  

Marion Geoffroy, managing director of Wizz Air UK, apologised for the announcement.

“The challenging macro-economic environment and high operational costs including fuel mean that unfortunately we are unable to continue operating from Cardiff Airport," said the MD.

"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."

In the past twelve months, Wizz Air says it has based two new aircraft across UK airports and launched new routes to international destinations, including Agadir, Amman, Dubrovnik, Faro, Lyon, Marrakesh, Nice, Prague, Sharm El Sheikh, Tallinn and Verona.

The company says the remainder of its network continues to evolve, with passenger numbers in the year to December 31, 2022, up 110 per cent to 45.7 million and capacity up 82.4 per cent to 52.7 million seats.