Wizz Air, the largest low fare - low cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe celebrated its 5th anniversary yesterday. The airline took off from Katowice, Poland on 19 May 2004 following the accession of 10 CEE countries and consequently a new market of 70 million people. Since then Wizz Air has established 10 operating bases, in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. The 11th base will be opened in Prague, the Czech Republic next month.

Wizz Air has carried 18 million passengers over 5 years and become the largest low fare - low cost airline in each of the home markets. It is well on track to become the single largest airline of the region. Thanks to its winning business model the carrier will continue its growth at a 30% rate in 2009.

Currently, the airline is flying to 21 countries offering an ever expanding route network of over 130 routes.

Wizz Air continues its commitment to high quality operations and flies a unified fleet of 180 seater Airbus A320 aircraft, one of the youngest in the world. The current fleet consists of 23 airplanes growing to 82 by 2014; all based on the airline's purchase agreement with Airbus.

"Wizz Air has come a long way over 5 years. 5 years ago we had an idea of a low cost airline and an inspiration to fly a lot of people. 5 years later we have the largest low cost airline in the region making low cost travel accessible to millions of people. Wizz Air revolutionized travel in Central and Eastern Europe" - said Jozsef Varadi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air. "The success of Wizz Air is based on the high quality - ultra low cost airline model that has proven to win the customers, no matter whether the industry enjoys good times or faces challenges"  he added.