Wizz Air flies higher as traffic, load factor rise in October

Ahead of its interim results on Wednesday, low-cost Hungarian airline Wizz Air reported a jump in passenger numbers and load factor for October.

Passenger numbers were up 30.5% to 2.7m as the load factor - which gauges how full the planes are - rose to 92.1% from 90% in October 2016. Meanwhile, capacity was boosted by 27.5% last month to 2.9m.

On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers were up 33.5% to 29.6m and the load factor ticked up to 91.3% from 88.8%.

Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said: “Whatever toll is being taken on the industry by rapid capacity expansion and lower fares, Wizz is on the right side of the bargain.

“Wizz Air continues to deliver strong passenger growth but most pleasingly for investors its load factor is also improving.”

Last month, Wizz announced that it had applied for an air operator's certificate and operating licence in the UK to make sure it can continue to operate in the country following Brexit. Once it has received the certificate and licence, the company’s UK subsidiary will begin operations in March 2018 with several UK-registered aircraft.

At 0910 BST, the shares were up 1.2% to 3,322p.