Wizz Air ‘lost’ two planes, shares plummet abruptly – UPDATE

József Váradi, the CEO of Hungary’s low-cost airline, Wizz Air, told Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily, about what happened to their planes in Ukraine. Wizz Air had four planes before the Russian invasion, but only one could escape after the war broke out.

As we wrote HERE, one of Wizz Air’s four planes stationed in Ukraine before the start of the Russian invasion could escape the country despite the airspace closure in September. However, three remained. CEO József Váradi talked about their fate to the Italian Corriere della Sera yesterday. Mr Váradi said that in February 2022, they had one plane in Lviv (Western Ukraine) and three at the airport of Kyiv. Last September, the one in Lviv could escape the country, while the remaining three had to wait in the capital.

Váradi said that out of the three, two “were lost forever”. They smuggled their engines to Poland, but that was all they could do. The remaining Airbus plane is in good condition, but they cannot take it out from Ukraine, Budflyer wrote.

Read also:

• Wizz Air to have its largest base in this Eastern European city – Read more HERE
• Wizz Air suspends flights from Budapest, Debrecen urgently today!

Wizz Air shares plummeted following the war in Israel

It seems that another military conflict harms Wizz Air as well. The Hungarian low-cost airline announced among the firsts that they suspend their flights to and from Israel following Hamas’ deadly attack on Saturday morning. Therefore, shareholders try to sell shares in the air traffic sector. The trend affects Wizz Air the most. The value of their shares decreased by 6.2%, while in the case of Ryanair, their Irish competitor, that rate remained at 3%. EasyJet stood at 5.4%, and the loss is similar at Air France KLM, while Lufthansa’s share value decreased by 4%, IAG’s British Airways by 5.5%, Világgazdaság wrote.

An Irish brokerage company, Goodbody, wrote that Wizz Air’s plummet is because their flights consist of 9.4% of Israel’s October capacity and 2.3% of the company’s capacity. Interestingly, the American Virgin Atlantic still operates some flights to and from Israel, just like Ryanair, flyDubai and the El Al. We wrote HERE that Israeli students in Hungary asked for the help of the Israeli national airline to help them get home to fight.

But there is good news too

Világgazdaság also wrote that Wizz Air was past COVID. For 2023, they calculate with 5.6 million passengers. Furthermore, they would like to increase the number of their employees significantly. Moreover, the utilisation rate of their plans stands at 94-95%, which is similar to the pre-COVID times. The Hungarian budget airline celebrates its 20th birthday this next May, with its first flight (to London) in June.

UPDATE

Wizz Air contacted us and wrote the following about the story:

“Of the four Wizz Air Airbus A320s stuck in Ukraine, the one in Lviv has been recovered and is currently back in service following a full overhaul. The engines of two of the three aircraft still in Ukraine have been recovered and installed on the airline’s aircraft, which are still in service. It is false information that Wizz Air has lost its passenger aircraft, the aircraft are still intact and in good condition and the airline is ready to return them to service as soon as it is possible.”