Wizz Air transported almost 5 million passengers in December

The total number of seats for the Hungarian airline increased by about 1.1 million to 6.04 million. Under the leadership of CEO József Varadi, Wizz Air plans to serve 170 million customers annually by 2030.

Last month, the Hungarian carrier transported 4.96 million passengers, up from 4.18 million in December 2022. This is despite significant pressure on the cost of living in Europe and the conflict in the Middle East. This information is reported by dailymail.co.

Although the group's load factor - the proportion of available seats occupied by customers - decreased by 2.4 percentage points to 82.1%, the total number of seats increased by about 1.1 million to 6.04 million.

During 2023, the company actively opened new routes or added aircraft to existing bases, particularly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Last month, Wizz Air welcomed its 100 millionth passenger to Poland after adding a 12th aircraft to its base at Warsaw Chopin Airport in the summer.

Meanwhile, Wizz Air-Abu Dhabi, a joint venture with the UAE's ADQ holding company, achieved a record year, doubling the number of flights to 15,000 and carrying more than 3 million passengers.

For the whole of 2023, Wizz Air's passenger numbers grew by almost a third to 60.3 million, and its load factor increased by 4.1 percentage points to 90.8 percent.

"Shareholders will be reassured by the company's business position as the cost of living crisis continues to drive passengers to seek affordable travel options, and the opening of new global routes expands the airline's geographic reach," said Ruth Griffin, a partner in Gowling WLG's Leisure practice.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wizz Air acquired cheap seats with the hope of capturing a larger share of the airline market when travel restrictions began to ease.

Under the leadership of CEO and founder József Váradi, the London-listed airline plans to have more than 500 aircraft in its fleet by 2030 and serve 170 million customers annually.

Another low-cost airline, Ryanair, also reported that it carried 12.5 million passengers in December, up 9% year-on-year, despite the cancellation of hundreds of flights to the Middle East due to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Irish airline warned that short-term revenues would be affected by numerous travel sites, including Kiwi, Kayak, and Booking.com, which no longer sell its flights.