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(Alliance News) - Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Thursday said passengers number dropped sharply in March in the wake of travel restrictions put in place to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shares in Wizz Air were 0.6% at higher at 2,110.00 pence in London in morning trading.
Capacity was cut 34% in March to match the drop in demand, to 1.9 million seats from 2.9 million a year before, as booked passengers dropped 33% to 1.8 million from 2.7 million. As a result, load factor was relatively stable at 92% versus 94% in March 2019.
Low cost airline Wizz Air explained that it had to shrink capacity as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions imposed across Europe in response.
However, rescue flights were operated throughout March "in cooperation with governments and organisations in order to bring passengers back to their home countries", Wizz Air noted.
At present, the company is operating flights between China and Hungary to deliver medical equipment like coronavirus test kits and protective gear.
In the rolling 12 months to March 31, capacity was 15% higher at 42.8 million seats from 37.3 million, and passengers were 16% higher at 40.0 million compared to 34.6 million the year before. Load factor was 94% compared to 93% a year previous.
Carbon dioxide emissions were down 35% year-on-year in March at 163,813 tonnes and dropped 2.4% per passenger to 55.0 grams per passenger per kilometre. Emissions were up 15% on a rolling 12-month basis, though down 2.2% on a per passenger basis.
Available seat kilometres dropped 32% to 3.2 million in March from 4.7 million a year before, and revenue passenger kilometres were 33% lower at 3.0 million from 4.5 million.
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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