Review of Wizz Air flight Kraków → Bari in Economy

Back for a cheap WIZZ!

I'm going to kick this off by saying WELCOME BACK WIZZAIR!

A quick backstory for those not familiar- Wizzair is the third largest European LCC and is a Hungarian based airline, established in 2003, which has become the main airline for the country since the bankruptcy of Malev Hungarian in February 2012. The airline for years focused on basing itself in Eastern Europe and flying out to the West of Europe and Mediterranean, it has now started operating large bases outside of Eastern Europe and can be found as far away as Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The Hungarian airline has two subsidiaries in the United Kingdom & United Arab Emirates to ensure they can operate from there. They are becoming a truly pan-European carrier and are really rivalling easyJet and Ryanair on an even level!

Wizzair established a UK spin off in response to Brexit, the operation covers their UK bases at London Luton, Cardiff, Doncaster and London Gatwick.

This is my first flight with them since June 2018 when I did a 2 day visit to Budapest from Luton, where I got to fly both a (then) rather new Airbus A321-ceo and older configured Airbus A320.

The Hungarian Low-Cost Airline initially formed in 2003 only operated Airbus A320 until 2016 when it added the Airbus A321, this Airbus A320 at Budapest sports the original 2003 livery.

Putting this trip together I was able to choose between two Ryanair flights via Rome FCO to Budapest, or this leg being split between a Wizzair Airbus & Ryanair Boeing 737. I opted for this route as I hadn't flown Wizzair in so long and as I wasn't let down by them and facing at least three Ryanair flights, I wanted a change of scenery!

Wizzair operates 140 Airbus A320/A321 (NEO & CEO variants) with over 320 Airbus A321-neo/A320-neo on order!

This flight cost me £4.50p for the base fare- which is phenomenal pricing for an over 2 hour flight, even an LCC like Wizzair. It is my cheapest flight after the trio of £1 Ryanair flights I've done.

Krakow Airport

This is flight two of four, so here's the trip so far….

The experience of Krakow Airport when I arrived in my taxi from the city centre started when I left the taxi and went to visit the Airport Observation Deck. I paid the 2PLN entry (about 35p for comparison). I saw a few aircraft turning around for departure and a few arrivals, but I had missed the busier time whilst enjoying the Krakow Aviation Museum (see in Tourist Section bellow).

Some highlights from my quick stop at the Observation Deck including a FlyDubai Boeing 737-8MAX!

After I got all the incoming traffic that was due in, I went to go to check in. I had already checked in and opted to see if they wanted my details to save time at the Gate if I had to show any documentation I had trouble uploading, but the check in personal said they wouldn't need to see anything on this flight as it was an intra-Schengen Area flight. Me being a UK citizen originating the previous day from the UK didn't appear to be an issue at the time of this flight and if there was any further queries, I had my paperwork on hand as a back up.

With a bit of time, I opted to grab a quick coffee and Polish sweet treat to off load some of my final Polish Zloty. The amount I had left would not have been suffice to be worth an exchange back in England. Finding a seating area with a charging port, I used it to top up my GoPro and phone before I went airside.

Krakow Airport is a very modern facility, in line with a lot of similar modern airports in Europe. I went to security which took me less than 10 minutes to clear. After that I was airside in the Schengen flight departure gates. I wouldn't need to clear the Passport check point I would have done if I was flying back to the UK like I'm accustomed to.

The Gate areas were not too busy, which would foreshadow my flights load.

My flight arrived in due course. We had to go to the Gate, which was also turned out to be a bus gate, as the plane passed us parking on a remote stand. The aircraft came in from Oslo, Norway- having previously done Doncaster, England that morning, so it was having an interesting day as it would be onward to Bari, Italy next.

Wizzair Airbus A321 W65057

After scanning my boarding pass, I passed down the stairs and after a 10 minute wait- we were allowed onto the bus which drove to our Airbus A321-ceo(WL) which was HA-LXI, delivered brand new to Wizzair in September 2016. The aircraft has flown for the Hungarian branch of the airline group ever since.

The aircraft was showing its sign of usage on the forward fuselage as it was quite dirty in some areas. One of the drawbacks of so-called "Eurowhite" livery schemes is that white is terrible at showing dirt, which I only know too well from owning a white Citroen C1 car.

As with Ryanair, Wizzair tends to favour open boards to save on costs and turn around times. I had reserved a seat in the forward cabin section, so I could have a good engine view. This meant boarding at the forward door, which allowed some interesting views as I boarded the Airbus A321.

It can difficult to appreciate how long the Airbus A321 fuselage is until to you stood are right next to one.

Looking at the Terminal and ATC Tower from the forward door, with the cockpit section of my A321.

I boarded the aircraft and initially taking my seat in 9F, but as the cabin was fairly empty and I had a family sat in my Row, I moved forward to Seat 8F, to allow me to film more freely without having to watch that I wasn't including the dad & young kid in my video.

One benefit of picking these forward seats was the fact it offered slightly better legroom over the seats in the middle and back. Wizzair has a "Reputation" for really stingy legroom, however their slimline seats are in a nice blue/pink colour on the A321 fleet.

Best perk of sitting up front- fantastic engine views!

We pushed back rather promptly and began our taxi out to the runway for the over 2 hour flight to Bari, Italy.

We held at the runway shortly as an aircraft arrived, once it landed and taxied off the runway- it was our turn. It also began raining, so I was glad to see us leaving at the right time! 

We taxied onto the runway and began our take off with a roll out, the aircraft powered out of Krakow and began to punch through the clouds around the area.

Cruising along on the flight, the cabin crew began their service. Noticeably Wizzair enforces a policy of making their crew wear vinyl gloves when conducting the food service, something other European airlines don't seem to do. I assume this is a post CV-19 policy, but its something they even mentioned during the in-flight announcement before starting it. Whilst mask wearing had become optional in Poland, at the time of this flight Italy was still enforcing masks, so as a result wearing a mask was compulsory on this flight unless actively eating or drinking.

The crew began the buy on board, luckily Wizzair was still offering a magazine in the plane- making it easier for me to decide on what I wanted to order from the menu, so I ordered a 9EUR "premium" meal deal. The airline only accepted card payments, which has become the standard on flying in Europe these days. The "Premium" sandwich was a pretzel with salami, cheese and a soft cheese, I opted for my snack item the 4 finger Kit-Kat and a can of Cherry Cola- which turned out to be a large can, rather than a smaller one you often get on Ryanair or easyJet flights! I was satisfied with my order.

One thing I like about flying in a Row to myself- I can use the tray table on the seat next to me!

The flight once we were above the cloud was mostly smooth, we had a slight bumpy part as we passed the Adriatic Sea between Croatia and Italy, which is normal. This patch wasn't too bad. There was a nice sunset as we cruised along with the time ticking from Afternoon into Evening.

We began descending into Bari eventually over the sea, the area was surrounded by heavy rain clouds and as the sun was already setting, it meant we were flying into a very dull approach.

As shown in the video, there was some interesting sights during our final approach, especially seeing a few ships around the Italian coast line, likely cruise liners. We passed over the beaches and arrived into Bari Airport, which was is the main Airport for Italy's Apulia region.

Interesting Fact, both Krakow Airport and Bari Airport are named after the same person. Pope John Paul II. Whilst Krakow Airport uses his Papal name, the Bari Airport ironically uses his Polish birth name: Karol Wojtyła. You'd have thought it would have been the other way around in the naming process!

We parked at the end of Bari Airport's Terminal, we must have arrived at a busy time with the other gates all occupied by Ryanair Boeing 737, Vueling Airbus A320 and two Airbus A320 of ITA Airways (one still wearing the 2009 Alitalia livery).

Exiting the aircraft for the gate with the rain coming down nicely in Bari, I took a final shot of my Airbus A321. Unsure when I'll be flying again with Wizzair as its not a regular airline in my flight log. It was a nice overall experience and I look forward to giving them another "dusting off". 

I only had about three hours in Bari, before flying onward to Budapest with Ryanair, but I'll cover that in the next article!!!

Bonus : Click here display hide

Polish Aviation Museum, Krakow

The Polish Aviation Museum opened in 1964 at a disused Krakow Airbase for the Polish Air Force and in a recent report by CNN, it was Rate #8 in a list of Top 10 Aviation Museums. You're about to find out why!

Whilst I won't share everything in the collection, it is well worth the visit if you're ever in Krakow!

Most the collection is former Polish Air Force aircraft, but a few civil and foreign planes have been donated or loaned over the years. Some of the external collection needs some TLC from exposure- but the planes stored inside all look pristine!

One plane which took my interest was the former LOT Polish Airlines Tupelov TU-134. It looks really weathered and needs a restoration. But it was donated as it represented LOT Polish Airlines entry into the "Jet Age" with the TU-134 being their first jet airliner.

A section of the outside is known as "MiG Row" featuring various Soviet (and Polish licence built variants) of the iconic Mig-15 and other models of MiG fighters.

A former Polish Presidential Transport plane was preserved, the aircraft being a Yakolev YAK-42, a popular regional jet for Soviet and Russian airlines.

Some various aircraft around the museum representing countries as far as Britain, USA, Canada, Denmark, Belgium and other former Soviet Union linked countries.

An impressive collection of WW1 aircraft survive due to Poland acquiring a collection of aircraft once owned by Luftwaffe commander in chief and WW1 veteran Hermann Wilhelm Göring. An original British Sopwith Camel as well as various sole surviving German WW1 aircraft make this collection a dream for anyone into the early aviation years!

Various WW2 era aircraft were also to be found in another hanger, including a rare Tupelov TU-2 bomber!