Wizz Air sticks to bold expansion plans despite air travel collapse

Wizz Air is sticking to its ambitious expansion plans despite the collapse in air travel as the bullish low-cost carrier positions itself for a recovery in passenger numbers next year. The Hungarian airline’s CE Jozsef Varadi said that while he was preparing for a “difficult” winter dominated by travel restrictions, he expected demand for flying to return by the beginning of April. “Coming out of winter and going into spring we will start seeing some improvements,” he said. “We will see demand coming up quickly and strongly.” Wizz has announced plans to open 13 bases including at London Gatwick and Doncaster Sheffield airports since April, betting that it can exploit the crisis to raise its footprint across European airports while rivals retrench. “Many of the existing carriers will have a hard task to revamp their operations, it will take them ages and some will never get there,” Varadi said. The airline is pushing for European aviation authorities to reinstate “use it or lose it” slot rules that strip airlines from lucrative landing rights if they do not fly their planned schedules. The rules have been suspended until next year to stop carriers having to operate empty flights to defend their slots, in a move welcomed by the majority of the airline industry. But Varadi said the suspension had stopped him from a “significant investment” in London’s struggling Gatwick. Given free rein to hoover up slots, he said Wizz could eventually operate 15 to 20 aircraft from the airport, up from just one currently. Despite the bullish tone, Wizz is not immune to the struggles facing the industry. The carrier has had to slash its flight plans for the winter like its competitors, and sank to a E237m loss before tax for the six months to September 30. The company made E385m in profit for the same period last year.<br/>