Wizz Air is currently operating at 3% of its pre-Covid 19 capacity the central European LCC said in a market update released today.
The firm recently announced March 2020 traffic of Wizz Air was down 34% year-on-year, however, as a consequence of COVID-19 and in line with IFRS standards, Wizz Air will recognize exceptional losses in Q4 of F20 of €70–80m, specifically related to hedging losses for the months of March to May 2020.
As a result, Wizz Air expects to report a statutory net profit of €270-280m for F20.The firm has excellent liquidity with €1.5bn of cash at the end of March 2020.
In the short term, the company continues to actively adjust capacity to market conditions and is reviewing aircraft allocation on a market-by-market basis as opportunities arise. As markets normalize, Wizz Air fully expects to maintain its plans to grow capacity by an average of 15% annually. Furthermore, the company confirms that the launch of operations of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is progressing in line with the initial timeline.
A number of further cost and liquidity measures have been put in place to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19. Wizz Air has been working with suppliers to reduce contracted rates and improve payment terms. Furthermore, the Company confirms that it will gradually return 32 older leased aircraft by the end of F23 as existing lease contracts expire.
József Váradi, Wizz Air chief executive said, “We have taken various initiatives to protect the position of the company in a controlled manner during the COVID-19 pandemic and are reviewing the competitiveness and allocation of the assets.
We are also working to further improve our strategic, cost and cash position in the aftermath of this crisis to ensure we can deliver our long-term growth target.”