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#1 Polish, and I was reapplying to Wizz Europe and got an offer from Wizz Air Abu Dhabi instead, which I took, and I have been here a year. The two threads on here about Wizz Abu Dhabi are comparisons from the European side. Here is the inside.
The airline
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is the joint venture with the Abu Dhabi investment company, operating A321neos from Abu Dhabi to the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, South Asia and Africa. The Wizz product and operation in the Gulf context. A young crew from Europe (a lot of Poles, Hungarians, Romanians), the Gulf source countries and the UAE.
The contract
A UAE employment contract, tax free, with the Wizz structure (basic, flight hour pay, sector allowances, commission) in dirhams. The basic is above the European Wizz basic in euro terms and the total is between the European Wizz net and the big Gulf carriers' net. Accommodation provided in shared crew housing in Abu Dhabi, with the Gulf rules the threads describe, and a transport arrangement to the airport.
The roster
The Wizz four sector day on the Gulf and regional routes: Abu Dhabi to Muscat, Kuwait, Bahrain, Amman, Cairo, Tbilisi, Baku, Almaty, the Indian cities, the East European cities, with night stops in the European and Central Asian destinations and turnarounds on the Gulf ones. 80 to 95 block hours in the busy months. Home most nights in the Abu Dhabi housing.
The Gulf low cost life
The Wizz pace with the Gulf heat and the Gulf rules. The crew room is European in culture and the city is Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi threads about the quiet city apply, with the addition that the Wizz crew are younger and louder than the Etihad crew and the two groups meet at the beach.
Is it a door to the big Gulf carriers
Yes, and it is used. A year at Wizz Abu Dhabi gives Gulf flying, a UAE residence visa, the regulator's requirements, and the Gulf context. The Emirates and Etihad events in the UAE are open to you and you already live here. Two of my batch have moved to Etihad in year two. The big carriers respect the Wizz Abu Dhabi hours as Gulf flying, which is more than the European Wizz hours get.
Honest downsides
The low cost Gulf model is a smaller version of the big Gulf life: less money, less network, smaller housing, the same rules. The crew who expected Etihad on a Wizz contract were disappointed. The ones who came for a Gulf door and a year of tax free sector pay are happy.
For the European Wizz applicants
If Abu Dhabi is offered: it is a real Gulf job, a door to the big carriers, and a year of tax free pay with housing. Take it with the right expectations. I did, by accident, and it worked.
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#2 Wizz Budapest, and Jakub went to Abu Dhabi by accident and wrote the thread the European crew needed. The door to the big carriers being real and used is the thing that makes the Abu Dhabi offer worth taking. Expectations as he says.
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#3 Emirates from Lahore via Air Arabia, and Wizz Abu Dhabi is the other small Gulf door, the European one. Same logic as Air Arabia: Gulf hours, the visa, the big carrier event from inside the UAE. Jakub's year is the Air Arabia path with a Polish accent.
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#4 Etihad, UK, and two of my base came from Wizz Abu Dhabi last year. They arrived knowing the UAE and the regulator and the heat. The Etihad assessment was easier for them than for the fresh hires from Europe. The door is real.
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#5 Bucharest, Wizz assessment done, and if Abu Dhabi is offered I now know what it is. A Gulf door with the Wizz pace. Taking it if it comes, with Jakub's expectations.
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#6 Wizz Budapest senior, and the Abu Dhabi crew who return to Europe come back faster and calmer from the heat and the rules. It makes a crew member. The ones who stay go to Etihad. Both outcomes are good for Wizz.
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#7 Etihad, Alexandria, and the Wizz Abu Dhabi crew at the beach are indeed younger and louder than us and we meet them there. Abu Dhabi has two cabin crew tribes now and they get on.
