Construction has started on Wizz Air's first hangar at its Budapest base.
Budapest airport's operator says it is building a one-bay hangar for the budget carrier to conduct line maintenance and minor repairs on Airbus A320s.
Wizz – which is headquartered in the Hungarian capital – has thus far had no in-house maintenance facilities, and is a long-term customer of Lufthansa Technik Budapest for heavy checks and other MRO services.
Last year, the carrier signed a 15-year deal to least the facility from the airport operator. Construction is scheduled to end in August, and operations to begin the following month.
The approximately 2,000m² (21,500ft²) hangar has been dimensioned to accommodate A321s, as the carrier has converted some of its A320 orders to the larger family member. Budapest airport indicates that the airline is also evaluating introduction of the re-engined A321neo to the fleet.
Wizz has 53 International Aero Engines V2500-powered A320s in operation and holds orders for another 29, plus 27 A321s, Flightglobal's Ascend Fleets database shows.
Nine of the aircraft are based in Budapest.
"Close to" Ft1 billion ($3.6 million) will be invested in the hangar, the airport says.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
