Wizz Air plots swift return to 2019 capacity levels

Chief executive Jozsef Varadi said the budget carrier expected to operate at around 90% of 2019 capacity in July, and 100% in August.

However, he cautioned against making any firm predictions for winter owing to an operations environment dependent on "unpredictable government decision-making".

Varadi’s comments came as Wizz posted a €114.4 million (£97 million) loss during its first-quarter (three months to 30 June 2021), a period during which the airline was able to operate only a third of available capacity.

"The first quarter remained challenging, as mobility restrictions continued to be a major barrier to international travel," said Varadi.

However, Varadi said Wizz did see "encouraging recovery patterns" in passenger air travel, with Q1 passenger carryings eventually amounting to nearly three million passengers – flown on an average load factor of 63.6%.

"As the quarter progressed, we deployed higher levels of capacity with June operating 62% of 2019 available seat kilometres," sad Varadi.

"We have now entered a busy part of the summer, ramping up our operations to meet increased demand while maintaining operational flexibility to deal with evolving travel restrictions as a result of Covid-19 developments."