European airlines jostle for position as they look beyond pandemic

European aviation may be on the cusp of a new order. The revelation on Thursday of a bid by Wizz Air for rival budget carrier easyJet marks the first sign of a potential wave of consolidation in the region’s airline industry as it emerges from the pandemic. The rejected offer highlights the tale of two carriers, both ambitious and hoping to expand. But Wizz has been by far the most aggressive through the crisis, while easyJet also unveiled a new GBP1b-plus rights issue to help bolster its balance sheet for the post-Covid world. Other airlines are also jostling for position in what could be a fundamental reshaping of Europe’s fragmented airline market that had already experienced a clutch of bankruptcies before the coronavirus crisis. British Airways, for example, has asked unions to back a plan to make sweeping changes to its short-haul Gatwick operations to match easyJet’s more flexible and seasonal model. In short, airlines are looking beyond the pandemic to prepare for a new business cycle, said Ross Harvey, an analyst at Davy Research. “The major carriers are now moving to position themselves for the post-Covid world,” he added. But it has been Wizz CE Jozsef Varadi and rival boss Michael O’Leary at Ryanair who have been the most bullish, talking up their airlines as the potential winners in a post-pandemic endgame. Story has more.<br/>