Wizz Air issues Ukraine conflict update

Wizz Air has issued an update in light of the current conflict in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier said: “Our primary concern has been the safety of our people in Ukraine and the company is working tirelessly to support the remaining employees who are willing and able to evacuate from the country, providing them full support to find safety in neighbouring countries.

“As the only EU airline to have bases and aircraft based in Ukraine, with three aircraft located in Kyiv and one aircraft in Lviv, we have an evacuation plan ready to bring the assets out of the country when it is safe to do so.

“With the closure of Ukrainian, Moldovan and Russian airspace, the company has suspended all flights to and from Ukraine and Russia while operating Moldova flights out of Iasi, Romania. We will continue to review the suspensions as the situation unfolds.

“The aggregate Ukraine/Russia impact was 2% fewer network flights in February than originally scheduled, and we expect March to see an impact of 7% on the network. For the first quarter of F23 (April to June) we are adjusting our point to point network to maximally mitigate this impact by redistributing capacity.

“At this point our F22 guidance in terms of operating loss will be materially consistent with the guidance provided at the time of our Q3 results release. The commercial and commodity impact behind the geopolitical crisis was in part offset by the improving post-COVID trading environment and as such we expect to have a Q4 operating loss slightly greater than the Q3 operating loss subject to preserving the integrity of our assets on the ground or other further developments in March 2022.”

József Váradi, Wizz Air Chief Executive, said: “In this very concerning situation we have been focused on helping our colleagues and their families in Ukraine to move to places of safety. I am incredibly proud of how our people have stepped up and worked around the clock to try to provide the best support at this difficult time.

“Many colleagues are volunteering, offering a place to stay and have donated money to the Wizz Employee Solidarity Fund to help support our Ukrainian colleagues and their families. At the same time, we continue to work to bring everyone to safety and to provide support where needed.

“We will offer already evacuated colleagues continued support and the choice to get employment elsewhere in the network, should they wish to. Wizz Air also announced it will support Ukrainian refugees by offering them 100,000 free seats on all short-haul flights departing from Ukraine’s border countries, and will also offer €29.99 rescue flights.

“We continue to work through the operational challenges arising from the crisis in Ukraine and we are redistributing capacity to routes and bases where we can drive demand in line with our proven ULCC model.”