All-female crews take to the skies: Wizz Air marks International Women’s Day with special flights

Low-cost airline Wizz Air once again marked International Women’s Day by operating a series of flights staffed entirely by women, continuing a tradition launched in 2022.

This year, the airline ran ten such flights across Europe on 8 March, highlighting the growing role of women in aviation and encouraging more to pursue careers in the sector, AIRportal.hu reported.

Women at the controls across Europe

The special flights took place in ten countries, including Hungary, the United Kingdom and Germany. In total, around 70 female pilots and cabin crew members volunteered to operate the services together, demonstrating the increasing presence of women in an industry that has historically been male-dominated.

One of the featured flights departed from Budapest, where Captain Irén Csertő and First Officer Szabina Nyers were responsible for the cockpit. They were supported by an all-female cabin crew team of five flight attendants: Patrícia, Veronika, Réka, Nadiah and Nikolett.

Aviation is still a male-dominated field

Despite gradual progress, women remain significantly under-represented in aviation. Globally, female pilots account for just 4.7% of the profession.

At Wizz Air, however, the numbers are slowly improving. By March 2026, women made up 5.6% of the airline’s pilot workforce. The company has set a target of raising that figure to 7% by 2030.

Training programmes encouraging women to fly

The airline attributes the progress partly to targeted training initiatives designed to attract and support female talent. These include programmes such as “She Can Fly”, “Cabin Crew to Pilot”, and the newer “Office to Pilot” scheme launched in 2025, which enables employees from non-flying roles to transition into pilot training.

According to HR chief Marion Geoffroy, women’s representation has also improved at leadership level within the company. Two decades ago, women held just 16.67% of senior leadership positions at the airline. Today, that share has risen to 36.21%, and the company hopes to reach the 40% milestone by the end of the year.