(Bloomberg) —
Wizz Air Holdings Plc is gaining optimism that test-free travel will spur a comeback in demand by summer after the omicron variant of Covid-19 pushed the carrier into a loss last quarter.
The discount carrier said it’s seen a jump in bookings since the U.K. announced plans this week to lift testing requirements for vaccinated travelers. Wizz is reviewing whether to ramp up capacity faster and to higher levels as it expands into London Gatwick airport.
Governments hit first by omicron are starting to reverse border clampdowns instituted late last year. Following the U.K. move, and the EU has said it also plans to drop test requirements for those who’ve received a full dose of vaccine. The changes infused airlines with confidence that after a two-year slump, demand will finally return for good.
“Continental Europe is probably a few weeks behind the U.K. but I would be expecting very similar trends” once the infection curve matures across Europe, Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said in a Bloomberg TV interview. The company is weighing whether “we should be executing plans earlier and more as a result of a largely improving market in the U.K.”
Shares of Wizz jumped as much as 3.1%. The stock was up 2% at 8:38 a.m. in London.
The Hungarian carrier reported an operating loss of 213.6 million euros ($241 million) in the fiscal third quarter through December, as omicron curbed demand and Wizz spent money ramping up flights, it said in a statement Wednesday.
Lingering uncertainty over travel is likely to impact bookings over the coming weeks, the airline said, leading to a higher loss in the fiscal fourth quarter through March. It had previously forecast a 200 million-euro loss for the December quarter that could carry over into early 2022.
Varadi said he’s optimistic that demand will recover through spring, allowing near-full utilization of the Wizz fleet from summer onwards.
Wizz is staging an aggressive expansion as it seeks to narrow the gap to low-cost sector leader Ryanair Holdings Plc. Both companies, which focus on leisure travel, see opportunities to take market share from so-called full-service carriers that are more dependent on business and long-distance flights.
Corporate travel will never be the same after Covid, American Express Co. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Squeri said this week.
AmEx CEO Says Customers Are Going Everywhere Except the Office
While Wizz became the first major European carrier to return to pre-Covid capacity in August as demand boomed, it had warned that the winter months would require price cuts to spur sales.
Varadi has also placed a major plane order and bought operating slots at Gatwick airport to fuel growth, while Wizz was the unidentified bidder that made a takeover offer for British discount rival EasyJet Plc, Bloomberg reported in September.
(Updates with CEO’s coments from first paragraph, adds shares)
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