Wizz Air continued its recovery posting revenue of €408.4 million for the third quarter ending December 31, 2021 – an increase of 172.5% over the prior-year quarter. The airline reported an operating loss for the quarter of €213.6 million, which the CEO József Váradi blamed on continuing travel restrictions. Despite the Omicron threat, passenger numbers for the reporting period also rose to 7.8 million with a load factor of 77.7%.
“Wizz Air continued its recovery during the third quarter of F22 and well exceeded 2019 passenger and capacity levels in the peak holiday traveling period, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant. In total, we carried 7.8 million passengers with a load factor of 77.1%. During peak weeks our capacity reached 110% of 2019 ASKs,” said Váradi. “Our operating loss was €213.6 million as travel restrictions continued to affect demand as we continued to ramp up our workforce, fleet, bases and routes to support our path to full utilisation and pre-Covid 19 cost structure by late Spring 2022. Our liquidity remained strong and closed at €1.4 billion at the end of December 2021.”
In November, Wizz Air placed an order for up to 196 new Airbus neo family aircraft that comprise of A321neo and A321XLR aircraft, with the bulk of deliveries from 2025 onwards. “This order will be a cornerstone for our ambition to reach 500 aircraft by the end of the decade. The new aircraft were ordered on highly competitive terms and represent the best technology available in the market today. They will be instrumental in Wizz Air continuing to deliver against the lowest unit cost in the industry with the lowest environmental footprint,” added Váradi.
Wizz also highlighted the company’s acquisition in December of a portfolio of slots at London Gatwick airport, where it will increase its base to five aircraft.
Also during the quarter, Wizz Air announced its four-year 2026 1.00% Euro bond offering, at pricing even more attractive compared to its debut offering last year. “The proceeds will further support Wizz Air’s ambitions as it scales-up to become an even stronger low-cost player in the coming years,” said Váradi.
Wizz Air ended the quarter with 150 aircraft, having taken delivery of eight new A321neo and returning two A320ceo aircraft.
The Wizz Air chief executive said that he expects to continue to stimulate demand with pricing, whilst staying agile in adjusting capacity, but that he expects the operating loss to increase for the next quarter. “The emergence of the Omicron variant and renewed travel restrictions impacted our trading performance late in the quarter and we expect demand in January, February and part of March to be impacted by ongoing travel uncertainty. As such, Wizz Air anticipates the operating loss for Q4 F22 to be slightly higher than the operating loss of €213.6 million for Q3 F22.”
“Despite the short-term headwinds, we are cautiously optimistic for a continued recovery into Spring and near-full utilisation from Summer onwards,” he added.
Wizz Air expects to operate of a fleet of 170 aircraft by the Summer. Wizz Air maintains an investment grade credit rating by Fitch (BBB-) and Moody’s (Baa3).
The airline has also notified the market of a number of personnel changes. Effective from 1 April 2022, George Michalopoulos, Wizz Air Chief Commercial Officer, will be stepping down from his position to pursue other interests outside of the company.
Anna Gatti has joined the Board of the Company as independent non-executive director with effect from 4 November 2021.
Simon Duffy, senior independent director, has informed the Board that, due to other commitments, he has elected not to put himself forward for re-appointment as a non-executive Director when his current term expires on 28 January 2022. Barry Eccleston will succeed as Wizz Air's senior independent director.