Wizz Air plans hub in Israel by April, CEO says

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Wizz Air plans to open a hub in Israel by April, Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said, a move that the Israeli government hopes will lead to lower aviation costs.

Varadi met with Transportation Minister Miri Regev in Israel last week and said in a statement on Sunday that Wizz would work to resolve a host of regulatory and other issues by the end of January.

"We are fully committed to the idea of putting a Wizz base in Israel," he told Regev in the meeting on Thursday, according to the statement, adding that would hopefully be around March or April.

Varadi said a key issue for governments around the world was lowering living costs.

"This is where we can ... add value by creating a low-cost air traffic infrastructure," he said.

Wizz has 36 bases in 19 countries.

The Hungary-based airline is considering a base at either Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, where it currently operates flights, or the smaller Ramon Airport near the Red Sea resort city of Eilat at Israel's southern tip.

Israeli media reported that Wizz would invest $1 billion in the Israeli market over the next three years by stationing 10 aircraft in the country, adding 50 routes and creating 4,000 jobs 

Regev said Israel is facing high costs of living and that lower costs would only come about by competition.

She said that while she respects that Israeli carriers carried most of the travel burden during the two-year Gaza war as foreign airlines paused operations, airfares spiked and public anger grew. "We are committed to lowering prices, increasing seating capacity and improving service," Regev said in the statement. 

Two of Israel's carriers - Israir and Arkia - said that while they do not object to competition, Regev's plan was not fair. 

Israir said it creates "unjustified gaps between Israeli and foreign airlines that directly harm the Israeli public, reduce the local flight supply, and leave Israel exposed to dependence on international airlines that will sharply raise prices later on."

In an interview with Army Radio on Sunday, Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz said Wizz should also be subject to paying high security costs as Israeli carriers do. 

Israel's main labour union has also expressed concern over the plan.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer)