Proactive Investors – Wizz Air (LON:) saw a dip in load factor in January 2024 due to the problems in the Middle East though the number of passengers carried overall rose year-on-year.
The Central Europe-based airline had halted flights to Tel Aviv following the fighting in Gaza but these will resume in March while flights to Aqaba and Abu Dhabi restart at the weekend.
Wizz Air has also been affected by an issue with Pratt & Whitney engines on its aircraft, which have needed inspecting for supposed microscopic contaminants.
According to Wizz, thirteen of its 180-plus Airbus aircraft were grounded as of 31 December, stretching to 33 as of 24 January.
UK regulator, the CAA, also made it pay £1.2m in compensation to passengers after it reviewed cases for cancellations that had been previously rejected by the airline.
Wizz said it was now “fully compliant” with commitments made to customers.
In January 2024, Wizz Air carried 4.7 million passengers, up by 14.2% though capacity rose by 19.9% over the same month a year ago.
Load factor or booked passengers fell 4.1 percentage points to 82% compared to 86% in January 2023.
On a rolling twelve-month basis, passenger numbers rose 28.4% to 60.9m with the load factor up 3.4pp at 90.4%.
Shares rose 6% to 2,016p
