The budget carrier revealed on Thursday (4 November) it had halved its first-half losses for the six months to 30 September from €243 million (£206 million) during the same period last year to €121 million (£102 million) this year.
Chief executive Jozsef Varadi also hailed a "return towards 2019 traffic levels" during the airline’s second quarter as Wizz "continues to transition to operational normality".
Nearly 10 million people booked flights with Wizz during Q2 (three months to 30 September) on load factors of "around 80%", peaking at 84% in August. Varadi said this was despite "lingering [travel] restrictions".
He also stressed the results reflected the investments in Wizz’s network, fleet and staff base, which Varadi said were designed to "lay the foundation for the exceptional opportunity" Wizz anticipates in the coming years as travel and aviation recovers from the Covid crisis.
Varadi, though, said Wizz was still in "an investment mode" as it expands its fleet and crew in readiness for spring 2022, and would continue to have to stimulate demand through pricing owing to the ongoing impact of Covid-19.
For these reasons, Varadi said – based on current market conditions – Wizz anticipated posted a Q3 operating loss of around €200 million (£169 million). "This will round off a true transition year out of Covid-19 with a network, team and fleet fully prepared for the peak season."
’Market opportunities’
Meanwhile, Wizz aims to operate a fleet of 500 aircraft "before the end of the decade". Its fleet for summer 2022 will increase in size by 26 aircraft compared with summer 2021, and is expected to reach 170 aircraft by the spring.
The net result will be a more than 50% increase in available seat capacity per kilometre compared with summer 2019. "This will allow us to maximally take advantage of market opportunities and next year’s peak season," said Varadi.
Wizz’s total workforce is expected to grow to 6,700 by the end of summer 2022 to service the expansion the airline is planning, up from around 4,000 pre-Covid.
