Wizz Air is expanding into Austria by opening a base Vienna airport.
A total of 17 new routes will be started from the Austrian capital this year with the deployment of one Airbus A320 in June followed by the deployment of two Airbus A321 in November.
The move will cost $331 million and create 120 new direct jobs with the airline.
New routes to Gdansk, Tuzla and Varna will start from April, with Bari, Malta, Rome, Valencia and Tel Aviv from June and with Billund, Bergen, Dortmund, Kutaisi, Larnaca, Nis, Ohrid, Tenerife and Thessaloniki from November.
Seats on the routes are already on sale starting from €19.99 with a capacity of 450,000 seats on 69 weekly flights by the end of the year.
By adding the Austrian capital to its route network, the eastern and Central European budget carrier will connect 145 destinations across 44 countries.
The recruitment of local crew for has already started and the airline is organising open days prospective staff.
The move follows British Airways owner International Airlines Group acquiring the assets of defunct Air Berlin Austrian low cost arm Niki.
Wiz Air CEO József Váradi said: “Today, everything changes for Austrian travellers. For the first time, truly low fares arrive in Vienna.
“Wiz Air’s Austrian customers now have the opportunity to travel from Vienna on an extensive network of routes to Europe and beyond at the lowest prices and experience Wizz Air’s great service onboard one of Europe’s youngest fleets.
“The new routes will also allow Wizz Air’s customers from other countries to experience for themselves the beauty of Austria’s cities and mountains.
“Our new colleagues in Vienna will have the opportunity to develop their careers with one of the fastest-growing airlines in Europe and our Vienna operation will also create and support additional jobs in the local aviation, transportation and hospitality industries.
“We are confident that our excellent value service and extensive route network will make Wizz Air the airline of choice for travellers to and from Austria.”