Wizz warns of return to losses, despite first profit since start of pandemic

Wizz Air warned on Thursday it would be plunged back into losses this winter, just as it announced its first quarterly profit since the start of the pandemic. The airline said it would have to cut ticket prices to encourage people to fly this winter, which was likely to force it back into the red after reporting an operating profit of E57m in the three months to the end of September. It is a blow for the London-listed airline, coming shortly after passenger numbers had returned to near normal levels during the busiest weeks over the summer. Despite joining a small band of European airlines that have returned to profit over the summer, including Ryanair and Lufthansa, CE József Váradi warned of a difficult winter ahead. He said he expected to lower prices to “stimulate demand” for flying. Taken alongside volatile fuel and currency prices, this was expected to push the airline back to an operating loss of E200m in the current quarter. Losses could continue into early next year. Rival Ryanair also cut its earnings forecast this week and said it would need to use lower prices to help support demand. Varadi is marshalling Wizz through the crisis with an aggressive expansion plan, and has been opening new bases and taking on aircraft in a challenge to Ryanair’s dominance of the low-cost European skies. “We are still in an investment mode, and that creates some degree of inefficiency because we are not yet fully operational at full capacity . . . obviously we are leaving money on the table from an operational perspective,” Varadi said. “It is a bit of short term pain for long term gain. But we believe all these issues we are facing in the short term are temporary in nature,” he added.<br/>