Wizz Air has taken legal action against Ryanair over the name of its Polish subsidiary, Buzz, declaring the name “Buzz” is similar to “Wizz”. As an interim injunction, a Hungarian court has decided to Buzz’s operation in Hungary, where Wizz is based, but Ryanair has announced that it would appeal against this. The suspension of Buzz’s operations in Hunary was requested by Wizz. Ryanair CEO, Micheal O’Leary, has responded to Wizz’s anger:
“Due to Buzz’s unbeatable combination of lower fares and industry-leading service, it is on track to become Poland’s number one airline. It’s clear that Wizz Air is terrified of Buzz’s lower fare competition, which is why they are trying to block Buzz using its Buzz brand in Hungary where Wizz are cutting aircraft and capacity in Budapest. They should stop wasting time with lawyers and start focusing their energy on reducing their costs to rival lower cost Buzz.We look forward to overturning this silly injunction on appeal, and we will continue to focus on Buzz’s expansion in Hungary, as the lowest fare, industry-leading service winner across Central and Eastern Europe, even while Wizz are cutting aircraft and capacity in Budapest. Those that can, compete, and those that can’t – like Wizz- run to Court seeking injunctions to protect them”.
O’Leary is witty, funny and takes risks and this is more of a diss than a calm response. Currently, Buzz operates 47 Boeing 737-800s and is one of Ryanair’s 4 subsidiaries: Ryanair DAC, Ryanair UK, Laudamotion and Buzz. Buzz is also awaiting 3 Boeing 737 MAX 8-200s that are at Boeing’s Renton Factory, waiting to be delivered. What a strange situation… 8th of July 2020.
Aeronews24 