Coronavirus: Wizz Air warns of potential 10% capacity cut
James ChappleWizz Air has warned it could cut capacity by as much as 10% during the three months to the end of June owing to the ongoing impact of the global coronavirus crisis.
In a trading update issued on Wednesday (4 March), the budget carrier said subject to further impact on demand from the Covid-19 coronavirus, it was considering further adjusting network capacity “in the magnitude of 10%” in the first quarter of its 2020/21 financial year (three months to 30 June).
Wizz has set up an internal taskforce to drive greater efficiencies and savings across the business to mitigate the financial impact of coronavirus.
These have so far included “significant” reductions in overheads and discretionary spending; pausing recruitment and non-essential travel; and working with suppliers to reduce costs.
Interim scheduling measures, which will kick in on 11 March, include various adjustments “primarily to Italian destinations” where Covid-19 has taken hold in Europe.
“Demand for air travel within Europe in March 2020 has been impacted, especially in those regions that are currently more affected by Covid-19,” said Wizz.
“At this point in time, it is difficult to predict the extent and the duration of the outbreak and the impact on the next financial year. However, we remain confident that, as the situation normalises, Wizz Air will continue its highly successful trajectory.
“The primary concern of Wizz Air is the health and wellbeing of our people and our customers. Wizz Air is partnering with the relevant authorities and is following the guidelines provided by the World Health Organization and Easa [the European Aviation Safety Agency] to continue to ensure the safest operation.”
Wizz added it would provide a full-year trading update towards the end of March.
Its decision to trim capacity follows similar moves this week by Ryanair and British Airways.
Jozsef Varadi, Wizz Air chief executive, added: “Our ever-disciplined attitude to cost enables Wizz Air to partly offset some of the headwinds due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which have driven a temporary decline in demand and an increase in the cost of disruption as we put the wellbeing of passengers and crew first.”
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