The Hungarian airline Wizz Air has begun operating low-cost flights from Budapest to Tel Aviv. 

The airline’s first flight to Israel took off on December 6 at 15:35 from Budapest with 175 passengers on board, according to Israel’s trade portal Port2Port website.

The start of the new connection brings low fares to a route previously only served by high fare airlines, it said.
 
Wizz Air announced the launch of the flight in September 2012, and has proven to be in such high demand that the originally planned three flights a week has already been increased to four a week during the winter schedule season. 

During the inauguration ceremony, CEO of WIzz Air, Jozsef Varadi, said, “We are delighted to offer low fares on the Budapest route to Tel Aviv for the very first time. Consumers in both Israel and Hungary have been subject to high fares on this route for many years and Wizz Air’s successful low cost operations will further stimulate business and tourism traffic between both countries. 

“To accommodate the strong demand for our low fares we will be operating daily flights between Tel Aviv and Budapest during the summer peak period in 2013. We hope that today’s first flight to Tel Aviv will be followed by many more exciting routes offered to Hungarian consumers as Wizz Air continues to expand its route network.”