TOP NEWS: Wizz Air eyes return to pre-virus capacity in July, August

(Alliance News) - Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Wednesday reported an increase in revenue for its ...

Alliance News 28 July, 2021 | 6:49AM
Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

(Alliance News) - Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Wednesday reported an increase in revenue for its first financial quarter, as travel restrictions around Europe began to ease.

The Budapest-based low-cost airline promisingly said it expects to operate up to 100% of its 2019 capacity during July and August. It noted it will be the first major European carrier to "fully recover capacity".

Its pretax loss for the three months ended June 30 widened, however, to EUR113.5 million from EUR107.4 million a year earlier.

Wizz Air posted revenue of EUR199.0 million, more than doubled from EUR90.8 million a year ago. Ticket revenues accounted for EUR87.2 million and ancillary revenues increased by 82% to EUR111.9 million.

Total operating expenses were 56% higher at EUR307.7 million from EUR197.1 million a year earlier.

Demand returned gradually as travel restrictions imposed by governments due to Covid-19 were eased, however, the airline still only operated at 33% capacity in the quarter. Mobility curbs were still a "major barrier" during the quarter, Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said.

"Through the quarter, we did see encouraging recovery patterns in passenger air travel. People began returning to flying despite mobility restrictions still impacting travel. We carried 3.0 million passengers during the quarter, more than four times the number we carried in the same period of last year," Varadi added.

"We continued to strengthen our network for the future, expanding our Italian market presence further by adding two more bases, in Rome and Naples. Rome, Fiumicino began operating with five new A321 aircraft from July and Naples will have a 2 aircraft operation starting as of August. In Tirana, Albania, we added a 5th A321 aircraft as we continued to see positive results and strong demand for our product and service."

Looking ahead, Wizz Air expects a busy summer, but is more cautious about predicting winter season travel patterns.

CEO Varadi said: "In July and August 2021 we expect to operate around 90% and 100% of our 2019 capacity, respectively, making Wizz Air the first major European airline to fully recover capacity to pre-Covid-19 levels."

By Amrit Sahota; newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
Wizz Air Holdings PLC 2,116.00 GBX 0.09 -

About Author

Alliance News

Alliance News provides Morningstar with continuously updating coverage of news affecting listed companies.

© Copyright 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures