Wizz Air December passenger numbers up 25%

European low-cost airline Wizz Air on Monday reported a 24.7% rise in December passenger numbers.

The airline, which specialises in East Europe destinations, said 3.3m passengers booked flights compared with 2.6m a year earlier. The load factor rose by 0.6 percentage points to 89.4%.

During the month Wizz Air said it planned to set up in Abu Dhabi in the second half of the year, its first operation outside Europe, as it sought to expand by offering budget prices on Middle East routes.

The company also added two new stations to its network: Yerevan in Armenia with two new routes to Vienna and Vilnius, and Paris Orly, with two new routes to Budapest and Warsaw. Its overall network was expanded with new routes to Austria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

The company also now includes carbon emissions in its monthly statistics, and reported CO2 output of 59.5 grams per passenger kilometre, down 2% year on year.