Budget carrier Wizz Air is expecting fares to increase by “upper single digits” between July and September, compared with summer 2019, as the industry faces higher costs and “strong” demand.
Wizz said it was “on track” to carry a record number of passengers in summer 2022 as low-cost carriers lead the way in the aviation industry’s recovery from the pandemic.
The Hungary-based airline said it had set a new company record for the number of daily flights on 30 May when it operated 777 services on that day.
Jozsef Varadi, Wizz Air’s group CEO, said bookings had shown “strong performance” in the past few weeks and the airline was seeing “strong consumer demand” for the summer months.
“We expect fares in the upper single digits ahead of the equivalent period in 2019/20 [covering summer 2019] and passenger load factors to deliver above 90 per cent,” he added.
Despite this recovery, Wizz still expects to make an operating loss during the first quarter of its current financial year, which runs to 30 June, and is “not providing further financial guidance for the year” due to current uncertainties.
“The airline industry remains exposed to externalities such as air traffic control disruption and continuing operational issues within the airports sector, adding to a volatile macro environment,” added Varadi.
“Rising energy costs and inflation across Europe will continue to favour ultra low-cost carriers as consumers reconsider spending choices. We are partially hedged over the summer providing partial protection against fuel price surges.”
Varadi made his comments as Wizz Air revealed an operating loss of €465 million for the year ending on 31 March 2022, which was a 12 per cent improvement on the €528 million loss made in 2021.
The airline’s passenger numbers increased by 166 per cent to reach 27.1 million for the 2021-22 financial year, with revenue also up by 121 per cent to €1.66 billion year-on-year.
Wizz earned more money from ancillary products (€931.4 million) than airline ticket revenue (€732.1 million) during the year.
Varadi added that Wizz had “managed the trading impact from the war in Ukraine” since Russia’s invasion on 24 February.
“I am incredibly proud of our response in supporting our colleagues and customers and we'll continue to do so by all means at our disposal in the face of this human tragedy,” said Varadi about Wizz Air’s response to the outbreak of the war.