Budget carrier Wizz Air reported a 576m net loss for the year as revenue and passenger numbers plunged amid the coronavirus pandemic and said it would post another loss in 2022 unless travel restrictions were lifted quickly.
The loss compared with a profit of 281m a year ago, the carrier said on Wednesday. Revenue fell 73.2% to 739m as passenger numbers slumped 74.6% to 10m.
Wizz said it expected to fly around 30% of our capacity in the first quarter of the current year and was resuming all cash contributing flying subject to government imposed restrictions.
“Furthermore, unless we see an accelerated and permanent lifting of restrictions we expect a reported net loss during 2022. For 2023 we see a strong trading environment and we plan to operate our full capacity,” said chief executive József Váradi.
The company added that it carried 833,000 passengers last month, compared with 207,000 a year ago at the height of the pandemic’s first wave. The load factor was up 4.9 percentage points to 66.1%.