Wizz Air losses widen as costs rise, revenue surges

Budget airline Wizz Air said first-quarter operating losses widened as it was hit by higher fuel costs, despite soaring revenues and passenger numbers as air travel recovered from the Covid pandemic.

The carrier on Wednesday reported a loss of €285m from €109m a year earlier. It flew more than 12m customers across Europe, with revenue up more than 300% to €808.8m.

“Whilst we are rebuilding the airline with greater scale we remain very conscious of the challenging macroeconomic and operational backdrop,” said chief executive József Váradi.

“Fuel prices for the quarter were double pre-pandemic levels. Lingering restrictions from Covid-19 remained, particularly during April and May, while the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions affecting air traffic control, security and ground operation resources have impacted our utilisation.”

Wizz said it expected to deliver a material operating profit as revenue and pricing momentum continue to improve, and said levels of disruption at airports had started to normalise.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com