Can Wizz challenge Ryanair as king of Europe’s skies?

For years Michael O’Leary has been the undisputed king of the European skies. The Irish executive has grown Ryanair from a low-cost upstart into the region’s dominant airline by offering cheap fares through an ultra-efficient business model that rivals have been unable to match. But when the aviation industry emerges from the rubble of the pandemic, O’Leary will have competition. Hungarian carrier Wizz Air has an equally low-cost business and is set on continuing a period of breakneck expansion and moving further into western Europe. Even while the rest of their industry crumbles, O’Leary and Wizz Air chief executive József Váradi have spent the past year touting the opportunities emerging. Both airlines are taking on new aircraft, scooping up take off and landing slots and opening new bases, while rivals with weaker balance sheets such as Alitalia and Norwegian Air Shuttle retrench or collapse. Neither is immune to the immediate impact of the pandemic, and both companies have bled hundreds of millions of euros over the past year. But their shares have recovered from heavy losses and are close to all-time highs, a sign that investors agree that low-cost is the future of European aviation. Story has more.<br/>