Another low-cost airline is planning to offer blocked-off middle seats

Amid increased competition for the same travelers, several low-cost airlines have tried to attract high-spending customers with more premium options.

Although this did not help save it from two bankruptcies within nine months of each other, Florida budget carrier Spirit Airlines replaced its decades-old base seats model with four increasingly premium classes in July 2024.

The former fare model focused on winning over travelers with rock-bottom fares, while the current one hopes to generate different income streams through passengers who are willing to pay for seat selection, more leg and elbow space, and bundles that include snacks and in-flight internet.

Wizz Air latest airline to try selling travelers rows without a middle seat

Launched in 2003 out of Budapest and flying to over 200 destinations across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, European airline Wizz Air is now the latest to go down the premium route that inches budget carriers increasingly closer to mainstream ones in terms of pricing.

At a press conference in London earlier this week, Chief Commercial Officer Michael Delehant revealed a soon-to-launch fare called "Wizz Class," featuring a blocked-off middle seat that gives passengers in the aisle and window seats more space.

The concept is the same as Spirit's Go Comfy fare class and Frontier Airlines' UpFront Plus, which also sell a blocked-off middle seat to those who want it.

Related: There is another update in the Spirit Airlines bankruptcy case

The service will begin on select Airbus A321neo flights leaving from Wizz Air bases in Bucharest, Budapest, London, Rome, and Warsaw from December 2025.

The rollout is a trial program, during which a few rows at the front of the plane will be blocked off. Should enough passengers book this type of ticket, the option will eventually be expanded to more flights, and some planes will potentially be retrofitted to have rows with no middle seat by design.

"We've had a lot of requests from customers": Wizz Air

"While we are very much about density and flying full aircraft in terms of what we are doing with the extra leg room in the front row, we've had a lot of requests from customers that are on business," Delehant explained to the conference attendees.

"[These customers] like getting on and off the aircraft quickly with a little bit more space to do work."

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For the initial rollout, the middle seat will be blocked off on flights where enough travelers are predicted to opt for the more expensive seats. Delehant did not elaborate on whether the blocked-off seat will involve a cover or an empty seat, or will somehow be designed to have a more aesthetic element.

"We’re not reinventing the wheel here and I don’t expect us to have half the aircraft blocked," Delehant said further.

The airline has also not yet announced the pricing range it is eyeing for the new "Wizz Class" seats.

At the same press conference, Wizz Air also touted the return of its "All You Can Fly" promotion, in which travelers can pay an annual fee for the flights they take with the airline during that period.

The promotion has multiple restrictions around timing of bookings, modifications, and availability during given periods and from specific airports.

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