Wizz Air has announced the opening of its 26th base in Krakow, Poland.

The airline will base two Airbus A321 aircraft at Krakow airport in May and September 2019.

Along with the establishment of the new base, Wizz Air will launch twelve new services to nine countries from Krakow, including routes to London Luton and Doncaster Sheffield, starting from April.

Krakow will be Wizz Air’s fifth base in Poland, joining Warsaw, Katowice, Gdansk and Wroclaw.

Wizz claims the base represents a $240 million investment in Poland, while arguing the decision will create 80 new direct jobs with the airline and over 140 jobs in associated industries

As well as the two new UK services, the two new Airbus A321 aircraft will support the operations of ten further routes to Kyiv, Bari, Catania, Larnaca, Nice, Turku, Billund, Kharkiv, Oslo and Kutaisi.

Speaking at a press conference in Krakow, Stephen Jones, deputy chief executive at Wizz Air, said: “Today’s announcement underlines our commitment to our UK and Polish markets, where we launched operations back in 2004 with the first Wizz Air flight from Luton to Katowice.

“We chose Krakow to be our newest base in Poland as we see the potential and the demand for low cost travel in this city which is a popular tourist destination as well as a rapidly developing business hub.

“Our newest base will open on May 1st, offering 12 new and exciting routes.”