* Sticks to fleet expansion plan
* Plans for Abu Dhabi JV to be six planes in Oct, up from
three
* FY net profit up 30% in yr to end of March
* Too early to provide 2020-21 guidance
(Adds CEO comments)
By Sarah Young
LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz
Air said its expansion plans would continue to be held
back by coronavirus-related restrictions in its 2020-2021
financial year but it was confident on longer-term growth.
The airline is sticking with its fleet expansion plan,
meaning that it will have 9% more seats by March 2021, and its
new Abu Dhabi joint venture will be bigger than it originally
planned when it starts flights in October.
"COVID-19 is a significant issue, making a significant
impact on the industry, but at the same time, it is also
creating quite some opportunities for us," Wizz's CEO Jozsef
Varadi said in an interview on Wednesday.
The coronavirus pandemic has wiped out air travel, forcing
airlines to make job cuts, shrink their fleets and ask for state
bailouts to survive what they see will be a smaller market for
years, but Wizz has fared better than many competitors.
The cash-rich airline has one of the strongest balance
sheets in Europe. Focused on eastern Europe, but with a growing
presence in western Europe, it says its low fares will help it
win market share when travel demand recovers, giving it the
confidence to stick with its long-term expansion plans.
While it has announced 1,000 job cuts, it is not delaying
aircraft deliveries, as many airlines including easyJet
and TUI are doing.
"Whatever we can fly, we're going to be flying because we've
seen that there is actually demand out there," Varadi said.
But for its current financial year to the end of March 2021,
he said the chances of overall growth were "remote" and it was
too early to provide profit guidance.
He said that Wizz, Europe's no.3 low cost carrier, expected
to fly 60% of its capacity over the summer and 80% from
September to March, but plans were subject to the easing of
travel restrictions by governments.
That compares to Ryanair, Europe's biggest low cost
carrier, starting to fly at 40% capacity and no.2 easyJet at 30%
in July.
For its last financial year to the end of March 2020, Wizz
posted underlying net profit of 344.8 million euros ($386
million), up 30% on the previous year, boosted by passenger
numbers which were 16% higher and a jump in ancillary revenues.
($1 = 0.8922 euros)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by James Davey)
easyJet (EZJ)