Prime Minister Roberta FicaMinister of Transport Jozef Ráž and Wizz Air representatives announced the news that many have been waiting for at a press conference on Thursday. The airline’s first flight on the line from Bratislava to Košice will take place on November 21 at 6:30 am. The prime minister added that he already proposed the restoration of this line during his previous government in 2016, but according to him, the then minister of transport had other priorities.
To the director of the airline Józsefov Váradimu the press made a mess. “It is a very important day for Wizz Air. It also marks the beginning of great things for Slovenia. Sorry, Slovakia,” he corrected himself immediately. At the same time, Váradi is close to our country. “I have many personal memories of Bratislava and Košice. My sons played various sports in both cities, so I often traveled to Slovakia. I am therefore happy that we are making this joint statement today,” he explained.
“I appreciate that when I told Minister Ráž upon taking office, Mr. Minister, please do everything to restore this connection again, he responded positively,” said Fico. The prime minister reminded that there are two main obstacles to development in Europe, namely public procurement and bad and ineffective political systems. “It would probably take less time, but everything simply has to go through complicated procedures“, he added.
The prime minister added that the decision from 2006 to cancel the planned privatization of the airport was the right step and since then the airport has been significantly restored. He did not rule out the discussion of its possible expansion. The record number of passengers from 2019 has not yet been surpassed, but according to the Prime Minister, the then number of 2.3 million passengers can at least be equaled this year.
He called on Minister Jozef Ráž (Smeru-SD nominee) to take all steps for the further development of the airport. Ráž reminded that in order to start the line, it was necessary to prepare the notification and approval of the service in the public interest at the European Commission, and also to carry out the selection of the operator of the line. “None of us expected the positive multiplier effect this line would cause,” he pointed out. By deciding to renew this line, Wizz Air also placed four more aircraft in Bratislava and brought 21 new destinations.
