Wizz buys Norwegian Air slots at Gatwick to boost UK business

Bloomberg

Discount carrier Wizz Air Holdings will increase its presence in the UK after agreeing to buy takeoff and landing slots from Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA at London’s Gatwick hub.
Budapest-based Wizz will acquire 15 daily slot pairs at Gatwick, where operations are restricted by a single runway, allowing it to base four more jets there next summer for a total of five, according to a statement.
Norwegian Air said earlier that it had sold excess slots at the London airport it no longer needs following a decision earlier this year to exit long-haul flying. The slots could have been taken away without compensation had they not been offloaded, according to a statement that didn’t disclose financial terms.
Boosting flights in Britain will bring Wizz a bigger share of Europe’s largest low-cost aviation market and help it take on rivals EasyJet Plc, which counts Gatwick as its biggest base, and Ryanair Holdings Plc. Wizz Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi has been demanding that the UK return to rules compelling airlines to surrender slots unless they utilise 80% of them after the requirement was watered down at the height of the coronavirus crisis.
Virgin Atlantic Airways has also halted long-haul flights at Gatwick while retaining slots. IAG SA’s British Airways mothballed short-haul routes but plans to gear up services again next summer with a revamped operation.