LONDON – Wizz Air has today announced it has handled 4.12 million passengers in May 2022, which is up by 390% compared to the same period last year.

Offering a load factor of 84.2%, the low-cost carrier offered the following numbers regarding its performance:

The airline listed the following aspects of note in its May results:

• Wizz Air announced its intention to file an application for its Maltese subsidiary to be granted an Air Operator’s Certificate with EASA and an Operating Licence with Malta Civil Aviation Directorate. The successful establishment of Wizz Air Malta will help reinforce its strong position and support its expansion plans in Europe.
• Wizz Air further announced that the airline, in partnership with several not-for-profit organizations, will be offering further 10,000 free tickets for Ukrainian refugees to travel from Ukraine’s neighboring countries to the UK.
• Wizz Air continuously operates amongst the lowest CO2 emissions per passenger/km among all competitor airlines, with 60.7 grams per passenger/km for the rolling 12 months to 31 May 2022. For the month of May, CO2 emissions in grams per passenger/km were 20.2% lower compared to the same month last year, as we witness an improvement in load factors over the same time.

Doncaster Base Scrapped…

Over the weekend, the airline confirmed plans that its services out of the Doncaster base will be scrapped, with all flights canceled from June 10.

According to the airline, pilots and cabin crew have been offered the opportunity to fly out of another base in the UK, with the closest likely to be Liverpool.

The airline has been making some changes to its UK network in recent months.

Back in April, the airline announced it would launch a base out of Cardiff Airport with nine new routes, although there has been some controversy behind the incentives given to the carrier.

MoU Signed With Saudi Arabia…

In the release also, Wizz Air highlighted the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to expand into the region.

“The purpose of the cooperation is to explore the country’s airline market development opportunities”, the airline said in the release.

This move comes as no surprise, especially with the airline’s intense expansion out of Abu Dhabi in recent months. The most recent came back in February with two new routes to Jordan.

The Abu Dhabi-based subsidiary has been intensively expanding because of the sheer competition from the likes of Jazeera Airways and Air Arabia Abu Dhabi as well.

Consolidating Growth…

Overall, it is clear that Wizz Air is consolidating its growth strategies to have the maximum output, especially as we slowly enter the Summer 2022 season.

Whilst the Doncaster base scrapping will be bad news for the airport, this is being offset by the other levels of expansion that are taking place across the Wizz network.

Looking ahead, the airline will be doubling down on new bases and investment opportunities in order to better preserve its position going into the long-term.