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LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Hungary's Wizz Air is
focused on organic growth, its chief supply chain officer said,
declining to comment on whether the low-cost airline had
recently made a takeover approach for bigger rival easyJet
.
"Our focus remains organic growth," chief supply chain and
legal officer Owain Jones told the AirFinance Journal conference
in London on Thursday.
Sources have said Wizz was the suitor for easyJet
after the British airline said earlier in September it had
received an approach but did not name the bidder.
Jones said he could not comment on press speculation when
asked if Wizz was behind the bid.
Wizz Air, which has grown rapidly over the last five years,
expanding into western Europe from its eastern European base,
has in the past said it wants to expand its presence at London's
no.2 airport Gatwick, an easyJet stronghold.
Slots at Gatwick may be shortly available after British
Airways said earlier on Thursday it was scrapping its short-haul
operations from the airport.
"We remain as interested in Gatwick as we have been and as
I've been saying and as (Wizz chief executive) Jo Varadi's been
saying since the start of the pandemic," he said when asked
whether Wizz would bid for the BA slots.
Europe's biggest low cost airline Ryanair has
questioned whether Gatwick is the right place for low cost
airlines, but Wizz said it could make Gatwick work.
"We'll only move to an airport if we're going to be
operating at the right cost level," said Jones when asked about
costs at Gatwick.
Industry sources have said that Wizz, which already has 240
aircraft on order, is in negotiations with European planemaker
Airbus over the purchase of at least 100 more
narrowbody jets, but Jones refused to be drawn on whether talks
were underway.
"We'll continue to look at what's available in the market
and what matches our growth aspirations," he said.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle and Jane
Merriman)
