Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ) passenger traffic grew to more than 4.34mln this June, the highest throughput the airline has seen in at least seven years and almost triple last June’s stats.
The airline said it is back up to 86.1% of capacity for June, up from 64% a year ago, but it is yet to hit the 91% load factor reported in February.
Earlier this month, Wizz Air said it was on track for a “record summer” after carrying 27.1mln passengers in the year to 31 March 2022. This was more than double the 10.2mln reported a year earlier.
Wizz Air chief executive József Váradi said the company’s investments in staffing, fleet and diversification of the network “enabled us to recover capacity faster and we operated more than twice as many ASKs [available seat kilometres] compared to F21”.
In its results for the year through to 31 March, the airline said load factors also improved compared to 2021, as its pandemic recovery saw it turn passenger loads around.
Váradi anticipated further capacity growth of over 30% and 40% in the first two quarters of 2023 respectively, enabled by increases to its fleet.
The airline has ordered up to 192 new aircraft to add to its fleet and recruited more than 2,200 staff in the past year, amid supply shortages that continue to hamper the flight industry.
Váradis said earlier this month that he expected the airline’s fleet to hit 182 aircraft by the end of the year.
Wizz Air’s share price has been hammered in the past six months, amid air traffic chaos that led to multiple flight cancellations across many providers this summer and a cap on flights leaving Gatwick airport.
Shares were down 0.28% in early trades this morning.