Wizz Air flies 41% fewer passengers in August
Wizz Air Holdings
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16:40 16/05/24
Wizz Air's passenger numbers fell 41% in August as the budget airline reduced capacity and filled fewer seats during the Covid-19 crisis.
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Passenger numbers dropped to 2.38m from 4.04m a year earlier as seat capacity fell to 3.36m from 4.19m. Load factor, which measures available seating filled, declined to 70.9% from 96.3%.
The company, which claims to have the lowest CO2 emissions among its peers, said emissions per passenger per km rose 24% because of the sharp decline in load factor.
The Budapest-based airline said it bought four new Airbus A320neo planes in August to expand its fleet to 130. The planes' Pratt & Whitney engines reduce noise and oxide emissions by about half compared with earlier craft and cut fuel burn by 16%, it said.
Wizz is seeking to expand during the Covid-19 crisis as bigger competitors struggle. If it can secure the landing and takeoff slots Wizz wants to have 20 planes at London's Gatwick airport, Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi has said.