Business 14 April 2022, 11:25am

Hungary Wizz Air projects fruitful summer, bookings to take off after Easter

Portfolio

Wizz Air has published its latest expectations for its financial year ended on 31 March, which sent its share price up 7% on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday morning. The low-cost airline said it expects a strong summer and that its capacity will be well above that of 2019, the last year before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Wizz Air expects a reported net loss of EUR 652 million to EUR 632 mn for its financial year ended on 31 March.

The operating result for Q4 F22 is expected to be in the range of €(210) - (190) mn, ahead of the guidance provided at the Q3 update behind a stronger trading environment.

At the start of its new financial year (F23) Wizz Air is "on track to ramping-up operations and crewing for a busy summer flying programme" when it expects to operate ASKs ( Available Seat Kilometres) more than 30% ahead of 2019 in the April - June 2022 quarter and more than 40% ahead of 2019 in the July - September 2022 quarter.

We have been encouraged by demand trends in recent weeks and given the shorter booking horizon expect the bookings for this summer to build significantly after Easter,

the low-cost airline said in a statement on the website of the LSE today.

Wizz Air said it continues to monitor the situation in Ukraine, Moldova and Russia. Although the carrier's flights to/from these locations remain suspended, it said it has successfully reallocated the affected capacity to other parts of its network.

"In order to reduce our exposure to volatility in the commodities environment, the Company has hedged for a coverage of 36% of planned jet fuel volume consumption from April to August 2022 with an average ceiling price of 1,130 USD/mT," Wizz Air added.

During the current financial year Wizz Air's focus will be on "maximising revenue and returning to productivity levels seen during the pre-COVID years, that should result in improved profitability during this period."

Chief Executive József Váradi said that despite the pandemic and the war in Ukraine the airline is "starting to see recovery take shape" ahead of the summer.

He added that Wizz Air's "diversified and expanded network", combined with "the most efficient fleet of aircraft" will allow the pre-pandemic cost structure to be achieved.

Even with today's share price rise, Wizz Air is down 25% this year.