Wizz Air PLC (LON:WIZZ) said it will not return to profit until 2023 unless flying restrictions are lifted soon.
“Unless we see an accelerated and permanent lifting of restrictions we expect a reported net loss" in 2022, said chief executive József Váradi.
Losses at the Central Europe-focused carrier scored to €567mln in the year to end-March 2021, an €850mln swing from a profit of €281mln a year earlier.
Revenues tumbled 73% to €739mln as the number of passengers flown fell to 10.2mln from 40mln.
Váradi said in what was probably one of the most challenging years for the industry the airline had stayed in control of its cost structure and preserved its cash position.
WizzAir ended the year with cash of €1.62bn with the size of the fleet rising by 13% to 137.
Váradi added he was cautiously optimistic about the business going forward, but said recovery had started later than expected so this year will be another one of transition.
“We expect to fly around 30% of our capacity in the first quarter of F22 and are resuming all cash contributing flying subject to government-imposed restrictions,” he added.
“For F23 we see a strong trading environment and we plan to operate our full capacity”.
The aim was to rebuild and eventually double the Wizz Air business in the “next year and years to come”, said the statement.