Wizz Air may beat Ryanair in Budapest this winter

The new routes announced by the Hungarian low-cost airline mean it would beat Ryanair in Budapest this winter. However, the Irish competitor may announce new flights in August and September. Ryanair and Wizz Air regularly communicate that they are market leaders in Hungary, and Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary becomes outraged if somebody questions their leadership.

Wizz Air can beat Ryanair in Budapest in October

In February, Ryanair head Michael O’Leary said it was a lie that Wizz Air was market-leader in Hungary and added the Hungarian airline had no chance to compete with them even in their home country. But it seems Wizz Air can finally beat their challenger in 2024. And that is good news for the passengers.

According to okosutas.hu, we can only see passenger data later, but concerning the number of destinations from Hungary, Ryanair and Wizz Air were neck and neck.

Wizz Air is to offer 61 flights in their winter schedule from Budapest and two from Debrecen. Meanwhile, Ryanair still stands at 52.

Photo: depositphotos.com

However, the Irish low-cost carrier regularly announces new flights months before the start of the winter schedule. They promised multiple times that if the government abolished the departure tax, they would expand in Hungary. Even though the Orbán cabinet announced the end of the departure tax this June, nothing has happened yet. Thus, Wizz Air can become the market leader in Hungary.

Based on the latest Ryanair stock exchange report, they could only fill their planes by introducing lower ticket prices. And that is what they expect in the rest of this year, so we may buy cheap tickets.

Wizz Air is scarcely profitable

Wizz Air remained scarcely profitable in Q2 2024. According to portfolio.hu, the passenger numbers were almost the same as in Q2 2023. However, the problem with the Pratt & Whitney engines caused extra costs for the company. Moreover, the changes in the currency exchange rates did not favour the company. Because of that, the management cut back their profit expectations for 2024 (from EUR 500-600M to EUR 350-450M), so shares fell on the London stock market by 16%.

Team Hungary: Wizz Air’s Olympic aircraft. Photo: FB/Budflyer

At the end of June, 46 planes were grounded due to engine problems, but the company received compensation. The load factor was 91%, which is a 0.2% decrease. The income of Wizz Air was EUR 1.26 billion, a 1.8% rise. The net profit was only 1 million euros in Q2 2024.

China Southern Airlines opens Budapest office

China Southern Airlines will open an office in Budapest, the company’s board of directors decided on 29 July. There will be five new offices worldwide: in Doha, Riyadh, Budapest, Vladivostok and Yerevan. Currently, the Hungarian market belongs to their Frankfurt office, Budflyer wrote.