Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ) posted a sharp turnaround in the first quarter to 30 June, reporting a net profit of €38.4 million compared to €1.2 million a year earlier.
Revenue rose 13.4% to €1.43 billion, driven by an 11% rise in available seat kilometres and a 10.6% increase in passengers to 17.0 million.
The carrier’s operating profit fell to €27.5 million from €44.6 million, impacted by higher airport and handling charges, as well as engine groundings. EBITDA rose 9.3% to €300.2 million, though margin slipped to 21.0%.
The group will suspend its Middle East operations from September and re-centre its network on core Central and Eastern European markets.
"We approach F26 with a clear vision of our strategy to focus our business on markets that satisfy two important criteria," said chief executive József Váradi.
Firstly, to ensure we are operating in so-called environmentally benign operating environments and secondly, in markets where we already have or will have market share. We believe our core Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets satisfy both these criteria."
"As such, we have developed initiatives that steer network design to focus on these markets."
At quarter-end, the airline had 41 grounded aircraft linked to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine inspections.
"We are pursuing all avenues to lift the fleet that is grounded due to engine supply chain issues and retiring early as many A320 CEO family aircraft as is feasible," said Váradi.
This will require further modification to our aircraft delivery schedules to reduce our growth rate to levels that support the demand this revised network will require," Váradi said.
He added: "Notwithstanding, Wizz Air carried 17 million passengers over the three months ending June, up 10.6% year-on-year and these results underline the sustained demand for our services across Europe and our ability to offer the best value to our customers."