Airline Wizz Air switches flight routes to Budapest and Bucharest from Edinburgh to Glasgow airport

The change of routes involving Wizz Air from Edinburgh to Glasgow airport has been labelled a major win for the west coast

Wizz Air is to switch its Budapest and Bucharest routes from Edinburgh to Glasgow in a major boost for the west coast airport.

The airline will also discontinue its only other route from Edinburgh, to Gdansk in Poland, on October 26, according to its website, suggesting it will quit the capital.

Its twice-weekly flights to the Hungarian and Romanian capitals will switch to Glasgow on November 14 and 17 respectively.

A Wizz Air aircraft. (Photo by Wizz Air)

An aviation source told The Scotsman: “That's the first punch Glasgow has landed on Edinburgh in quite some time. These are routes that Wizz Air flew in competition with Ryanair at Edinburgh, but will have to themselves at Glasgow.”

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The Budapest flights are on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and the Bucharest ones on Mondays and Fridays.

The move comes four years after Ryanair expanded at Edinburgh Airport when it reduced its Glasgow routes from 23 to three, contributing to a one million passengers a year loss for the airport, although the number has edged up slightly since. The budget carrier flew 69 routes from the capital this summer.

Marion Geoffroy, managing director of Wizz Air UK, said: “We look forward to operating these flights from November as part of our new winter schedule.”

Matt Hazelwood, chief commercial officer at AGS Airports, which owns Glasgow Airport, said:“Wizz Air’s return to Glasgow is fantastic news."