Wizz Air has officially pulled the plug on its longest scheduled flights, withdrawing its nonstop routes from London Gatwick (LGW) to both Jeddah and Medina in Saudi Arabia from its booking systems. The sudden shift ends the airline’s highly anticipated ultra-low-cost long-haul experiment. Only months ago, Wizz Air had actively promoted plans to expand the Gatwick-Jeddah route to a twice-daily service in 2026, which makes the total abandonment of both routes a dramatic turn of strategy. These flights, which approached seven hours in duration, were designed as a premier showcase for the newly introduced, extended-range Airbus A321XLR.

The decision to scrap these routes is deeply tied to the closure of the Wizz Air Abu Dhabi joint venture in September 2025, which was originally intended to serve as the primary launching pad and connecting hub for the airline's long-range XLR network. According to Wizz Air's Chief Commercial Officer Ian Malin, operating dedicated long-haul narrowbody flights no longer aligns with the airline's core business model without that Middle Eastern hub. Additionally, several operational challenges accelerated this retreat: the extreme heat of the Middle East has caused faster-than-expected wear on the fleet's Pratt & Whitney engines, regional airspace restrictions have forced longer and less efficient flight paths, and the carrier's high-density, all-economy 239-seat cabin layout proved difficult to run profitably on thin, seven-hour routes where traditional carriers rely heavily on premium-class fares.

As a result of this strategy shift, Wizz Air has fundamentally changed its fleet plans, converting 36 of its original 47 Airbus A321XLR orders into standard, short-haul A321neo aircraft. This leaves Wizz Air with a downsized order of just 11 A321XLRs. The airline will operate these remaining 11 XLRs identically to its standard European short-to-medium-haul A321neos—serving destinations like Madrid, Barcelona, and Istanbul—rather than utilizing them for their headline extended-range capabilities. For passengers, this means the low-cost option for religious pilgrimages and leisure travel between the UK and Saudi Arabia is gone, leaving travelers to seek alternative, full-service carriers.