Wizz Air load factors rise as it takes delivery of next-generation Airbus planes

2nd Apr 2019 07:29

(Sharecast News) - Wizz Air Holdings once again saw sizeable improvements in its capacity and passenger numbers in March, reporting a 2.6 percentage point year-on-year rise in its load factor for the month, to 94.1%.The FTSE 250 low-cost airline said that was thanks to a 6.9% increase in its capacity to 2.893 million seats being beaten by 9.9% growth in passenger numbers to 2.722 million.On a rolling 12-month basis, Wizz Air's capacity was up 14.9% over the prior year in the 12 months ended 31 March, at 37.267 million, while its passenger numbers were ahead 16.7% to 34.567 million.That made for a load factor of 92.8% for the 12 month period, which was 1.4 percentage points higher than in the year ended 31 March 2018.Wizz Air also highlighted the ongoing expansion of its route network in the month, with 15 new routes announced.Those consisted of nine routes to and from Poland, two in Romania, and one in each of the UK, Ukraine, Serbia, and Moldova.The company's fleet also continued to expand, with the delivery of two brand-new Airbus 321neo aircraft and two brand-new Airbus 321ceo aircraft."The arrival of the game-changing Airbus A321neo aircraft is a significant milestone for the company," the Wizz Air board said in its statement."The Airbus A321neo is powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, features the widest single-aisle cabin with 239 seats in a single class configuration and offers Wizz Air maximum flexibility, fuel efficiency and lowest possible operating costs."The Wizz Air fleet consisted of 112 aircraft at the end of March.Wizz Air also pointed out that it was named the 'Best Low-Cost Airline of the Year' in the Central and Eastern Europe region for 2018, and received the 'Best Cabin Crew' award, as part of the annual CESAAR awards.At the same time on Tuesday, Wizz Air also updated shareholders on its year just ended, confirming that trading in the fourth quarter was in line with expectations.The firm said it expected to deliver a net profit for the year ended 31 March in the upper half of its guidance range of between €270m and €300m.It said demand across its markets remained "robust", as demonstrated by its traffic statistics, adding that it also experienced an "excellent" operational performance in March with only one cancelled flight, compared to 68 in March 2018, and on-time-performance improving by 10 percentage points to 85%.The new financial year had also started "well", the board claimed, with revenue per available seat per kilometre (RASK) forecast to be ahead 4% year-on-year in the first quarter, on 18% available seat per kilometre growth.That revenue performance was said to have been driven by the strength in the company's ancillary revenues, which was expected to continue into the summer, and also the timing of Easter.Cost discipline remained at the heart of Wizz's business model, the board said, and ex-fuel costs per available seat per kilometre in the first quarter were expected to be "broadly flat" year-on-year."The company has successfully taken delivery of its first two game-changing Airbus A321neo aircraft taking its fleet to 112 aircraft as at 31 March," the board reiterated."The continued rollout of these larger and more fuel efficient aircraft which combined with the company's industry leading unit costs, a highly valued employee base and investment grade balance sheet makes Wizz Air a structural winner in the European airline industry."Wizz Air said it would issue its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March on 31 May, at which point it would provide full year guidance for the 2020 financial year, as well as an outlook for summer trading.