Wizz Air expects sluggish travel recovery in late summer

Wizz Air has warned it expects only a slow recovery in flying in the late summer, in a sign that travel restrictions are on course to wreak havoc with airlines’ peak season. The Hungarian airline forecasts travel demand to pick up across Europe following “a period of good progress of national vaccination plans” in the coming months, but until then is flying only a handful of routes where there is strong demand.  However, CE József Váradi remains confident the airline, which has expanded its footprint across western Europe in recent years, will emerge as a long-term winner from the pandemic as others retreat. “Our agility and relentless focus on costs and cash are significant competitive advantages,” he said on Thursday. “Our network expansion and the investments we have made in our fleet over the past 12 months ensures we are well placed for a return to normal operations and we are convinced we are now even better positioned to be a structural winner in the European aviation sector.” Johan Lundgren, easyJet’s chief executive, said on Wednesday he expected most countries in Europe to be put on the UK’s “green list”, which allows for quarantine-free travel from mid-May, when borders are scheduled to reopen.<br/>