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Wizz Air passenger traffic up more than 50% in December as end of Covid curbs fuels airline sector recovery
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Wizz Air saw passenger numbers rise by more than half last month as the airline sector benefited from a relative lack of Covid-19 restrictions.
The Hungarian low-cost airline reported that nearly 4.2 million people flew their aircraft in December, compared to 2.6 million in the same period last year.
During the last period, airlines were reeling from a reintroduction of cross-border travel restrictions by governments in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Recovery: The Hungarian low-cost airline reported that nearly 4.2 million people flew their planes in December, compared to 2.6 million in the same period last year.
In the UK, all new arrivals had to take a PCR test on the second day of arrival and self-isolate until they got a negative result, while other European countries were much stricter.
This slowed the recovery of air traffic and put even greater financial strain on an industry that was severely impacted by the pandemic.
Passenger numbers recovered more quickly as Omicron-related curbs were eased, although airlines experienced more cancellations and widespread delays at airports, particularly in Britain.
Delays and lost flights contributed to Wizz Air’s losses tripling for the six months ended September to €384.3 million, as did unfavorable exchange rate movements caused by a weakening pound.
Still, it has continued to expand its destinations, launching new routes from Italy and Vienna to the Saudi Arabian cities of Riyadh and Jeddah in December.
Budapest-based Wizz also added additional aircraft to its bases in the Austrian capital, Warsaw, Belgrade, Tirana and the Georgian city of Kutaisi, and two more at Rome Fiumicino Airport.
While other airlines have scaled back operations during the pandemic, the low-cost airline has ramped up capacity and number of routes in hopes of gaining additional market share as the market recovers.
Traditionally, the focus was on penetrating the European market, but it has also increasingly branched out into the Middle East and Asia.
Throughout the past year, approximately 52.7 million people flew with Wizz Air, an increase of 110.2 percent from 2021.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: “2022 was meant to be the post-pandemic comeback year for international travel, but strikes, baggage handling issues, cancellations and the crisis of the cost of living weighed on the airlines. ‘
Wizz Air Shares were down 0.8 percent to 1,889.5 pence by late afternoon on Tuesday, though their value has more than halved in the past 12 months.