Wizz Air losses widen but operations starting to ‘normalise’

Low-cost carrier Wizz Air has reported widening losses in the first half of the year but has said its operations are starting to “normalise” after months of disruption. In the July to September quarter the group returned to profit, but over the six months to September 30 it made an operating loss of E63.8m, according to results published on Wednesday. This compares with a E51.9mn loss for the same period in 2021. Revenue over the period more than doubled, from E880m to E2.19b. Severe disruption because of staff shortages and problems at airports pushed Wizz to an operating loss of E284m for April to June, Q1 of its financial year. CE József Váradi said the carrier, a fast-growing rival to low-cost operators such as Ryanair, was now in a position to become profitable. “Our operational performance has recently normalised and we are now back in line with our historically low levels of cancellations and flight disruptions,” Váradi said. Váradi added that the problems over the summer had been predominantly a result of issues such as shortages of air traffic controllers and delays at airport security. But he said the issues were now resolved. “If you look at the last months of operation of the airline, we’re back to our standards,” Váradi said. “We’re operating our flights with no significant disruption.” Váradi said Wizz had not yet reached the levels of fleet utilisation and load factors of before the pandemic.<br/>