Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ) said it expects operating losses for the final quarter of its current financial year to widen slightly as travel uncertainty caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to impact demand.
But despite the emergence of Omicron, passenger numbers continued to recover in the third quarter to 31 December 2021, exceeding pre-pandemic 2019 levels during the peak holiday travel period, the airline said in a trading update.
It carried 7.8mln passengers with a load factor of 77.1% in the third quarter and during peak weeks capacity reached 110% of 2019 available seat kilometres (ASKs).
The airline reported an operating loss of €213.6mln in the third quarter to 31 December 2021, compared with a deficit of €141.9mln in the same period the year before. It attributed the bigger loss to travel restrictions and the ramping up of its workforce, fleet, bases and routes as it aims to reach full utilisation and pre-COVID-19 cost structure by late spring 2022.
The net reported loss increased to €267.5mln from €116.4mln, on total revenue of €408.4mln, up from €149.9mln in the third quarter the previous year.
Average revenue per passenger dropped by 20.8% to €52.35.
The company had a fleet of 150 aircraft at the end of December. It placed an order for 196 new Airbus neo Family Aircraft in November as part of its plan to reach 500 planes by the end of the decade.
In December, it acquired a portfolio of slots at Gatwick airport, which will enable it to increase its base to five aircraft.
The airline said it has recruited 1,500 new staff since last summer and now has 5,550 employees, surpassing pre-pandemic numbers.
Commenting on the outlook, Wizz Air chief executive József Váradi said: "Wizz Air anticipates the operating loss for Q4 FY22 to be slightly higher than the operating loss of €213.6 million for Q3 FY22.
"Despite the short-term headwinds, we are cautiously optimistic for a continued recovery into spring and near-full utilisation from summer onwards"
He said the airline is on track to have 170 aircraft fully utilised this summer.
Wizz Air had cash of €1.4bn at the end of December.