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Wizz Air Eyes Barcelona Base After Runway Boost
Wizz Air Barcelona could gain a new base once Barcelona-El Prat’s third runway is complete, the airline said on September 30, 2025.
On September 30, 2025, Wizz Air confirmed it is studying a base at Barcelona-El Prat Airport pending completion of the airport operator AENA’s planned third runway. The airline told stakeholders the extra capacity would free up slots and support longer-haul services as demand grows.
Wizz served 2.2 million passengers to and from Barcelona between January and September 2025, a 13.8% increase year-on-year. The carrier currently flies 120 routes from 16 Spanish airports and says it will expand its Spanish footprint as runway and slot capacity becomes available.
Why a Wizz Air Barcelona base makes sense
AENA has said the runway project would allow more movements and potentially more long-haul operations at Barcelona-El Prat, enabling low-cost long-range strategies that some carriers are already pursuing. For Wizz, the timing matters: extra runway capacity can translate into new routes, aircraft rotations, and better network resilience.
- Key point: a Wizz Air Barcelona base would leverage the third runway to expand routes and frequencies across Spain and beyond.
- AENA’s expansion supports growth by increasing slot availability and reducing air-traffic bottlenecks.
- Wizz’s recent traffic gain (2.2M passengers Jan–Sep 2025) underpins its case for further investment in Spain.
The potential move contrasts with Ryanair’s recent route cuts in Spain, which the Irish low-cost carrier has partly blamed on higher airport taxes. Wizz Air’s approach appears opportunistic: capitalise on extra infrastructure rather than cut back when local costs rise.
For travellers and local business, a Wizz Air base at Barcelona-El Prat could mean more low-cost connections and potentially new long-haul economy options from the Catalan hub. Exact timelines will depend on AENA’s construction schedule and final slot coordination once the third runway is operational.
