- Wizz Air reported a first-quarter operating loss of €183.3m for April-June 2026
- Revenue per seat is expected to fall in the second quarter due to rising fuel costs from the Iran war
- The airline will maintain capacity growth plans despite reduced revenues, targeting high-twenties percentage growth
- Full-service flag carriers have proven more resilient to the conflict than budget operators
- Wizz Air has hedged 76 pc of fuel needs and maintains ample liquidity to ride out the turbulence
Wizz Air has reported a first-quarter operating loss of €183.3m and expects second-quarter revenue per seat to decline as the Iran war drives up fuel costs that the budget carrier has been unable to pass on to its price-sensitive customers. The company’s results echo the strain flagged by rival Ryanair and expose a widening split in European aviation, where full-service flag carriers have proven more resilient to the conflict than budget operators whose business model relies on offering cheap fares. Shares in Wizz Air fell more than 5 pc in early trading following the announcement.
Despite the reduced revenues, Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi confirmed the airline would stick to its plans to grow capacity and target passenger growth. Varadi stated that the airline would carefully manage the capacity growth ahead, acknowledging the challenge for the next nine months before reducing it to more manageable levels. The airline guided for seat capacity growth of up to high-twenties percentage while forecasting second-quarter revenue per available seat kilometre would fall by a low single-digit percentage year-on-year.
Flag carriers including Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and IAG have either cut capacity or kept it flat to deal with the costs associated with the US-Israeli war with Iran, benefiting from affluent travellers willing to pay for premium cabins and rising demand for direct Europe-Asia routes. Wizz Air has hedged 76 pc of its full-year jet fuel needs using zero-cost collars that cap its exposure at $826 per metric ton while preventing it from benefiting if prices fall below $759. The airline, whose balance sheet has been flagged as among the sector’s most exposed, has maintained it has ample liquidity to withstand the turbulence.
Jozsef Varadi, Chief Executive of Wizz Air, shared: “We will very carefully manage the capacity growth that we have in front of us. But we know that this is a challenge for the next probably nine months, and after that we will get it down to a lot more palatable levels.”
