Wizz Air predicts more losses before travel picks up for summer

Wizz Air, the low-cost airline, has forecast more losses during the winter because of the Omicron coronavirus variant — but the carrier expects a resurgence in passenger demand led by the UK later in the year. The London-listed airline on Wednesday reported an operating loss of €213.6m for the final three months of 2021, when the emergence of the variant and travel restrictions derailed the aviation sector’s fragile recovery. That figure was worse than the E141.9m lost in the same period in 2020 as Wizz burnt through cash to increase its workforce, fleet of aircraft and opened new bases. But Jozsef Varadi, Wizz CE, remained upbeat as he forecast a rapid recovery in the summer season, when the airline would have the aircraft to carry 50% more passengers than in 2019, enabling it to operate at “full-blown” capacity. His bullish outlook helped lift shares, which rose 4% to GBP44.40 by early afternoon in London. The airline will have a 170-strong fleet of aircraft by the summer, following an ambitious expansion strategy that involved ordering new planes and opening bases as it expands its eastern European hubs to the wider regional market. Earlier, the Budapest-based carrier said in its statement that operating losses would “slightly” widen in the present quarter, before demand for travel returned. Low-cost rival Ryanair said before Christmas that its losses for 2021 could more than double after it slashed flight schedules in response to the spread of Omicron. As an example of the potential for recovery, this week’s easing of UK travel restrictions had an “immediate effect” and led to a rise in bookings “the next minute”, Varadi said. He added that the airline had to discount ticket prices to encourage people to travel. He expects passenger demand to suffer in January, February and for the first part of March. <br/>