Wizz flight cancelled but CEO may get GBP 100 mn bonus after making investors EUR billionaires

According to the agreement between the CEO and Wizz Air investors, provided share prices grow fivefold until 2028, the Wizz CEO will receive GBP 100 million. And that would be even higher than Michael O’Leary’s bonus, who is the CEO of the main competitor Irish Ryanair.

According to Világgazdaság, Wizz Air’s investors gave the green light to extend the original 2026 deadline until mid-2028. That would mean one share exceeds GBP 120 by 2028. To reach that goal, Wizz Air has to fulfill its expansion plan and grow its fleet from 150 (2019) to 500 aircraft. The bonus sum is massive. Michael O’Leary, the rival Ryanair’s CEO, can get his hands on a net GBP 86 million if their shares reach EUR 21 and their revenue exceeds EUR 2.2 billion, index.hu wrote.

Váradi’s base income is around GBP 570 thousand per year. He said the bonus was only 1% of the investors’ GBP 10 billion, provided he carried out the expansion plan. Exceptional premium for an exceptional performance, the Wizz leader summed up.

However, they are far from the target of GBP 120/share. The shares lost 8.27% in the last 30 days. The six months average is 15% in minus. Analysts agree that Wizz shares are significantly underpriced. Most analysts expect GBP 34.87 by next August, while the minority of the experts project GBP 55, Világgazdaság highlighted.

Read also:

• Wizz Air cuts flights from a Balkan country, closes its base – Read more HERE
• Flight cancellation: What is the difference between Wizz Air and Ryanair?

Another cancelled Wizz Air flight

Wizz Air had good numbers in Q2 and presented a 95% flight utilisation. However, the problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines might affect the expansion numbers in the Middle East. Nevertheless, Gábor Bukta, an analyst of Concorde, said Wizz might close the 2023 financial year with a EUR 443 million profit. He added that Váradi’s bonus is feasible provided favourable macroeconomic circumstances.

A Rome-Budapest Wizz Air flight was cancelled yesterday before the take-off. A passenger told hvg.hu that the situation was chaotic. The Hungarian low-cost airline said the cause of the cancellation was the technical error of the Italian flight control system, resulting in a capacity plummet. The plane will fly from Rome to Budapest on 29 August. Wizz Air offered hotel accommodation for their passengers.