Threats and airing dirty laundry: Where it got stuck between the state and Wizz air

As soon as the government changed in Hungary, "hiccups" also started between Serbia and another Hungarian company operating in the country.

A retrospective of statements to the media, as well as media headlines in state tabloids, shows the day-to-day fighting at the level of Wizz Air and the Serbian Directorate of Aviation.

First is Aero.rs announced changes to the regulations, which was adopted by the Directorate of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Serbia in March, raises the question of the future of the Wizz Air base in Belgrade, the only base of a foreign airline in Serbia. According to information from Aero.rs, there are Hungarians among the employees in Belgrade low-cost airlines there was concern that the new provisions could affect its further work. Later, some Serbian media claimed that this concern was "staged".

Then the Directorate of Civil Aviation rejected claims that the new rulebook threatens Wizz Air's operations in Serbia.

Tabloids let off the chain

It didn't stop there. Just a few days later, the tabloid "Alo" announced that Wizz Air has "regulatory problems", and that during a regular control it was established that the Hungarian company hired a company that did not have the necessary permits to work in the Republic of Serbia for the line maintenance of the aircraft.

"The case also raises the issue of responsibility for the selection of contractual partners, as well as whether all the necessary status checks and authorizations of the engaged companies were carried out before the conclusion of the contract," wrote "Alo".

Another media outlet reported that Wizz Air went so far in its reaction that the director of corporate affairs recorded a message to the Serbian authorities in the middle of Knez Mihajlova in which he talks about the dispute with Serbia. The Hungarian airline responded to that again and denied his claims.

They said that the airline operates in full compliance with all applicable requirements in the field of air traffic safety and regulatory obligations. They rejected as incorrect claims that Wizz Air would operate aircraft without proper maintenance supervision or without compliance with regulatory requirements, the statement said.

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