Wizz Air Q1 operating loss expands to 285 mln euros

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) – Low-cost airline Wizz Air said its first-quarter operating loss had jumped to 285 million euros ($288.71 million) from 109 million euros the year before, as it was hit by higher fuel costs, disruption at airports and some lingering COVID-19 restrictions.

The London-listed airline said it expected to deliver a material operating profit as revenue and pricing momentum continued to improve, and it said levels of disruption at airports had started to normalise.

Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said the airline expected to fly around 30% higher capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), in the summer compared to pre-pandemic levels, with net total fares and loads continuing to rise month-on-moth.

He said he expected revenue per available seat kilometre in the second quarter to improve 10% versus the same quarter three years ago.

“We are encouragingly starting to see normalization of operational disruption levels as we have lowered utilization by circa 5% for the summer versus F20,” he said.

($1 = 0.9872 euros)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton and Louise Heavens)