(Sharecast News) - East Europe-focused budget airline Wizz Air swung to a first-half profit as the easing of pandemic restrictions helped its second quarter performance.


The company on Thursday said it made a €57m operating profit for the three months to September 30, marking a return towards 2019 traffic levels as it continued to transition to operational normality and saw more people return to flying "despite lingering restrictions".

For the six months period, revenue soared by 86.8% to €880.4m and core earnings came in at €164m from a €81m loss a year ago.

"We closed the quarter with €1.7bn of total cash, highlighting our ability to manage liquidity well and continue to maintain our investment grade rating," said chief executive Jozsef Varadi.

"The increase in passenger ticket revenue was driven by the improvement in the passenger demand environment which was strongly impacted by the lifting of travel restrictions due to Covid-19, while the increase in ancillary revenue per passenger was driven by our core and flexibility products,' the company said.

Looking ahead, the company said it anticipated a third quarter operating loss of around €200 as it brought new planes and crew into service and rising fuel prices impacted.

"The Q3 loss may carry over into the last quarter of the fiscal year depending on the operating conditions in the quarter," it added.