Wizz Air to launch the first UK direct flights to Medina

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• Zain says:

  26 Feb26 February 06:05

  Astute route choice, with year round traffic between LON and MED. I priced it up with standard baggage, seat selection etc and costs are on par with RJ or TK, so it’s a trade off between going direct in very cramped seats or a one stopper with decent legroom.
  For J travelers, it’s easier to fly into JED on SV or BA, and take the Saudi equivalent of the bullet train to Medina.
  I wonder if they’ll open the floodgates with a LGW-DXB route this winter.

• IanT says:

  26 Feb26 February 07:55

  Talking of single-aisle aircraft changing the future of air travel, I see that WestJet are now flying the 737 MAX from mainland Canada to Europe.

  It will revolutionise long-haul travel.

  • Andrew. says:

    26 Feb26 February 08:07

    The daytime Air Canada AC868/AC869 route from Halifax to Heathrow has been operating as a 737Max for quite some time now.

    • Bervios says:

      26 Feb26 February 13:56

      AC used to use an A319 to St John’s as well. I think that service has now ended.

  • Not Long Now... says:

    26 Feb26 February 08:09

    “Narrow bodies” have been doing North America to Europe for years, but I agree the extra range will open many more routes. Of course the original long haul narrow body had a little more prestige and luxury, but similar lack of space… even at Mach 2.

    • Mark says:

      26 Feb26 February 08:47

      The original long haul narrow body predated Concorde by some time. Not so many people around now who remember flying in the days before the Boeing 747 and DC-10 introduced the era of wide bodies being the norm or are aware of the history.

      • JDB says:

        26 Feb26 February 08:56

        How many people remember the DC4’s from Lydd to Calais/Ostend that one could drive the car onto; so much better/quicker than the awful ferries? Or flying from Croydon before Heathrow opened – my Dad reminded me of this recently when the maybe third runway was in the news!

        • LD27 says:

          26 Feb26 February 10:19

          Don’t remember Lydd/Calais. However I seem to recall in the 70s going on my first ever flight on a school trip to Paris flying from Lydd to Beauvais. No idea which aircraft/airline. It can’t have been too bad, as wanted to fly ever since!

        • Colin MacKinnon says:

          26 Feb26 February 14:17

          We drive from Glasgow to Barcelona and Glasgow to Marbella in a Morris Minor in the 1960s – using Silver City Airways from Lydd. Great home movie of my father driving the car onto the aircraft.

• Inman says:

  26 Feb26 February 08:01

  Non-reclining seats with the same 28-inch pitch for a 7-hour flight might just be too much even for someone on a budget. I would rather choose Pegasus if I am to travel this route.

  • BBbetter says:

    26 Feb26 February 18:00

    Non-reclining? That should be made illegal!

• Bob says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:01

  I’m quite sure these Umrah flights will be absolutely packed, regardless of any discomfort for 7 hours, that I’m quite sure of. Myself, I’d prefer to go BA J to Jeddah and get the fast train across. But that’s a massive price difference so comparing oranges and lemons. More importantly, it’ll build brand loyalty amongst Muslim audiences who’ll think this is a pretty cool development and will have a warm feeling towards the airline as a result.

• Tiberius says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:28

  Very exciting development. Once both the Jeddah and Madinah flights are up and running hopefully there will be sufficient capacity that prices will drop even further in sales periods. Makes travelling for Umrah almost on par with flying from other parts of the GCC.

  I also saw that Saudia are taking over PIAs Heathrow slots also for more Jeddah flights, seems we are in the golden age of Saudi travel…

• David says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:46

  I flew 4h30min flight from Dubai to Maldives with Wizz. It tested my limits so I would say 7 will be a toughie but direct is pretty amazing for those wanting to travel to Medina.

• Zain says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:48

  I wonder if Saudia will drop prices to try and compete with the likes of Wizz in the Y/cost-focused market with sister airline Riyadh Air gunning for the top tier bracket.

• LD27 says:

  26 Feb26 February 10:21

  I’m flying with Wizz from Larnaca to Yerevan next month. Will wait to see how that goes before planning any future flights.

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