Whizz air who is flying?

[Theredjellybean]

Can someone please explain this to me.

Whizzair is starting flights out of Luton next week. Various destinations, teneriffe possibly one of them.
Other budget airlines making plans to restart flights in may too.
So who is going on these flights?
We are still in lock down with police turning people back who say have driven to the beach or local beauty spot but conceivably I can get on a plane somewhere and stay a few days or weeks and fly back..

There is slow talk of quarentine at UK airports but as of yet anyone can fly on with no checks.

I wouldn't do this but what is to stop someone flying out to another country, either finding a private holiday rental or say using a friend's or their own holi home, and then flying back..

I can see that lots of countries have quarentine on arrival or refuse entry to UK citizens but some aren't.

I am very puzzled by who exactly is going to be flying, except maybe people resident here flying home to see families?

Oh and it is hugely annoying that I can't see my elderly parents but someone can get a whizz air flight to say Slovenia to see family and then fly back to the UK.. No quarentine, no covid testing.

Disclaimer... I haven't Checked if Slovenia have entry restrictions.. It is an example of where Whizzair are flying too

Half the destinations that Wizz Air will operating out of the UK to are in Romania. Wizz Air itself is a Hungarian budget operator. I suspect they are targeting the migrant EU worker market which will need opening up as harvests become ready around Europe.

That makes sense as some planes already arrived with migrant workers.

I made mistake whizzair fo to Slovakia not Slovenia.. Slovakia looks lovely.. Its so tempting to just go somewhere.. But looking at restrictions in place everywhere can't see anywhere is better than here.
It does just seem odd.. The thought we can't go to see family or friends but can get on a plane!

I agree it seems odd at first glance, but then trains and other forms of public transport have been running the whole time, so why not planes?
It's up to the airline to figure out if there's enough demand to justify the plane taking off and I'd imagine that at the moment it would mainly be people travelling for work, or moving country to be with family (don't forget there's a huge population of ex pat Brits in Tenerife, who may wish to come home to the UK, or whose family may wish to travel over to them to stay)
I'm sure there's all sorts of quarantine restrictions on those movements, but no doubt some are possible.

But some people are still travelling internationally anyway at the moment. It has reduced drastically but people are still doing it.

I have a colleague who is currently in a villa in Cyprus.

I received an email from one of the buget airlines that they will start flights in june, but that they are restricted for essential seasonal workers and for reuniting families and that supporting documents are needed to travel.
(not in uk, but another european country)

I agree it seems odd at first glance, but then trains and other forms of public transport have been running the whole time, so why not planes?

As you rightly say people (essential workers, those needing repatriation, etc) have needed to travel by air and as a result some airlines have continued to run a very limited number of flights across Europe throughout the crisis.

Wizz Air aren't leading the pack here, they are just made a bit of noise about restarting their services..

I'm not sure why they're talking about 'starting flights again', I looked at airports a few weeks ago and there were plenty of flights to and from Europe.

The resorts are all shut to tourists outside of Spain, that includes the canaries, baleraics etc.

Only Spanish nationals are allowed to holiday around Spain at the moment and AFAIK travel in and out. There will be some exceptions, however you can forget about having a nice holiday right now.

I looked at airports a few weeks ago and there were plenty of flights to and from Europe.

Bare in mind lots of flights have been cargo only (including many long haul flights that would normally be passenger flights) , but yes, there have been aircraft flying to and from Europe all through this crisis.

I don't think cargo flights are displayed at Luton or Heathrow? Esp not Wizzair.

Plenty of cargo flights to and from LTN. DHL, MNG cargo airlines. Wizz actually only stopped flying a few weeks ago. Haven’t seen Easy in ages, a few Ryanair flights. TUI I have seen going between UK airports.
PlaneFinder is a good app as this has RAF flights added which are not visible on Flightradar24.

I don't think cargo flights are displayed at Luton or Heathrow?

On apps such as Flightradar? I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't be.

Many "just in time" goods are transported on regular flights not cargo (as confirmed on R4 this morning.) There are also many other reasons to travel that are not holidays. My FIL died of Coronavirus in Europe and my husband flew there and back. Trust me, it was no holiday.

Daily flights still coming into LHR from Toronto (air Canada), Miami, JFK (BA and Virgin), Beijing, Dubai, Seoul, Chicago, New York as well as the named Cargo flights (of which I never realised there were so many!). Some city hopper flights eg Dublin-Brussels (Ryanair) still operating. They can't ALL be carrying cargo?

A lot of airlines will be accepting more cargo than normal to try and keep some money rolling in.

There are also a lot more reasons for people to travel than just a holiday, as people have already said upthread.

People coming home, family emergencies, work, moving essential workers around etc etc.

Blobby

Most of the Long haul flights coming from the cities you are mentioned are very definitely 100% cargo, or close to it - anything for revenue. BA for example is loading the holds of it's 777's and other passenger types full of cargo and in many instances also loading items (in an approved manner) on to the seats and/or in overhead lockers.

simpleflying.com/british-airways-ppe-cargo-flights/

There may be a few ( as in numbers barely into double figures) passengers on a few of the flights not carrying any cabin cargo but as Dyrne is said there are still people who have a legitimate need and reason to fly into the UK, for example those being repatriated, essential workers, such as positioning crew, diplomats, Health officials/experts, both on Long Haul and on Short Haul routes.

@notimagain that makes sense - it just seems like HUGE amount of cargo which must be being transported as there are still all the cargo flights.

Don't know if I'm weird but it would have to be a VERY extreme circumstance that would get me on an aeroplane at the moment!! They are flying incubators at the best of times!!!

it just seems like HUGE amount of cargo which must be being transported as there are still all the cargo flights

I don't think many people have realised up until now just how much freight is routinely moved by air into and out of the UK- lots of that cargo
e.g; some drugs needs moving quickly from source to destination, something that cannot be done by boat/road/rail
.
"Bellyhold cargo at Heathrow accounted for over 60% of total UK air freight volume in 2017,with forwarders and shippers utilising its extensive intercontinental passenger network. "

"bellyhold "- cargo carried in passenger aircraft holds.

airlinesuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Assessment-of-the-value-of-air-freight-services-to-the-UK-economy-Final-Report-v22-Oct-2018-b-SENT.pdf

According to wiki and other sources almost 1.8 million tons of cargo went through LHR in 2018.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_airports_by_cargo_traffic

Wizzair to Luton airport arrivals from all over Europe. Just the normal airport arrivals page. I don't think Wizzair operates cargo either.

Wizzair to Luton airport arrivals from all over Europe. Just the normal airport arrivals page. I don't think Wizzair operates cargo either.

But there's not really any mystery or conspiracy behind this though, is there? From the Luton Airport website:

"London Luton Airport remains open for dedicated repatriation, medical and military flights and General Aviation, and our cargo operation continues to ensure the delivery of vital supplies including medical equipment. Wizz Air will resume a select number of flights from Friday 1st May..."

I did't suggest either conspiracy or mystery. Mentioned the fact they never stopped flying.