In addition to removing the three destinations from its Skopje network, the airline has reduced frequencies on a number of other routes out of the Macedonian capital for the upcoming winter, mostly by one weekly flight compared to its initial plans. However, a select number of destinations see an additional weekly flight, including London Luton, Beauvais, and Bratislava.
In a recent interview for the Financial Times, Wizz Air’s CEO, Joszef Varadi, has described the recent problems the airline has faced over engine inspections, supply chain issues, and geopolitics as “too many black swans”. The carrier has been disproportionately affected by the wars in Ukraine and Israel, as these countries make up a higher portion of its flight schedules than its rivals. In addition, unlike other airlines, Wizz decided not to hedge against swings in the price of oil before the war in Ukraine sent prices soaring, meaning it was exposed to rocketing fuel bills. Furthermore, Wizz Air is the worst impacted airline in Europe by the neo engine inspections, with around 20% of its fleet grounded. “Everything almost felt unprecedented, relative to what we had been going through before. And the real issue was that most of these matters actually were unique to us, unlike Covid that affected the entire industry. Crisis management has become a constant in the company. We used to be a very focused business, very focused management team but we have become even more focused, almost laser focused on some of the issues. We have really become micro-managers”, Mr Varadi said.
