Wizz Air upbeat after record third quarter

Wizz Air reported record quarterly profit after the budget airline carried more passengers and sold more add-on services.

Underlying profit for the three months to the end of December rose 3.6% to €14m as passenger numbers rose 24.3% to 7.1m, the company said in a trading update.

Ticket revenue in the third quarter jumped 26.1% to €241.7m and sales of ancillary services such as priority boarding increased 21.3% to €181.1m.

Pre-tax profit fell 56% to €14.6m, mainly due to exceptional financial income recorded the year before.

Based in Budapest, Wizz Air flies passengers within and to and from Central and Eastern Europe and says it is the region's biggest low-cost airline. József Váradi, Wizz Air's chief executive, said he was upbeat about prospects for the rest of the year.

Váradi said: "I'm pleased to report that Wizz Air has once again delivered a successful third quarter, with passenger numbers increasing by 24% year-on-year to a record of 7.1m. Our strong performance over the first nine months of the financial year and an encouraging upcoming Easter has enabled us to increase fourth quarter growth."