Wizz Air chief bullish over recovery in air travel

The CE of Wizz Air has outlined a bullish outlook for recovery in air travel as the carrier this week prepares to become the first big European airline to restore passenger flights. József Váradi said the carrier will start services from London Luton airport to 15 destinations, including Tenerife and Lisbon, from Friday with plans to fly all its planes by the end of the year. The largest low-cost airline serving central and eastern Europe aims to run at about 10% of capacity in May before ramping up to about 70% of its flights in July and August, subject to an easing of travel restrictions. The move to resume some flights comes in spite of bans still in place for non-essential air travel in many countries. But Váradi said he is confident countries and governments will start easing travel restrictions over the course of May and early June. “At this point in time the objective [for us] is to put infrastructure back in the air, to have a schedule that is operational so that we are able to start stimulating the market [with low fares],” he said. <br/>