Wizz Air reports abysmal figures, share price takes a plunge
The January-March period is the fourth financial quarter for the no-frills carrier, i.e. Wizz Air has also published figures for its full 2024/25 financial year,
including several surprises.
As regards the whole FY2025:
Wizz Air had a fleet of 231 aircraft at the end of March, up 11.1% in annual terms., while its total available seat kilometres (ASKs) edged up 0.1% year-on-year.
At the end of March, the discount airline had 42 grounded aircraft due to Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine recall and inspection. As of 9 May 2025, Wizz Air had 37 aircraft on the ground as a result of GTF engine-related matters. The Company is expecting roughly 34 aircraft to be grounded by the end of the first half of F26. They still assume that the average expected shop-visit time needed to return engines back to service is approximately 300 days.
Wizz Air's load factor came in at 91.2%, up 1.1 percentage point on the previous year.
The airline carried 63.4 million passengers in FY25, which marks a 2.2% yr/yr growth.
Total revenue reached EUR 5.3 billion, an increase of 3.8% over the previous year.
EBITDA reached €1.1 billion, which corresponds to a 4.9% yr/yr decline.
Profit amounted to €213.9 million, a marked contraction of 41.5% in annual terms.
There was also a significant decrease in operating profit, falling to €167.5 million in FY 2025 from €431.7 million in FY 2024 — a decline of around 61.7%.
Wizz Air closed FY25 with total cash of €1.74 billion, a growth of 9.3% over FY24. Debt reached €4.6 billion, up 3.5% yr/yr.
As for the Q4 figures:
Interestingly, Wizz Air has not published any forecasts for the next quarters or the full 2026 financial year.
Chief Executive József Váradi described Wizz Air's FY25 with two words: resilience and transformation. "In an environment where rare challenges have become recurrent, Wizz Air has evolved structurally, embedding increased flexibility into our standard operating model," he said. The CEO pointed out that, despite having aircraft grounded, the company had managed to operate profitably for the second consecutive year. He also noted that the company had improved its revenue per passenger kilometre despite the challenging circumstances, thanks partly to higher ticket prices and better load factors.
He added that punctuality and performance of the flights has improved. "The number of grounded aircraft will start reducing in both absolute and relative terms and
this is why we have reached an transformation point,
he said.
"ASK capacity is back to growing due to this and due to the increase in the delivery volume of new aircraft from Airbus. The percentage of grounded aircraft relative to total fleet continues to improve, allowing us to focus on the key elements of our strategy, winning market share, driving leadership positions and deploying our expertise to mitigate challenges in our sector. We will not relent on defending the ultra-low cost business model, delivering profitable growth and ultimately stakeholder value," he concluded.
However, the CEO's words failed to reassure investors. Wizz Air's share price has fallen by 22.8% since the announcement, although it has fallen by as much as 26.1% earlier.
Cover photo: Shutterstock
