Jozsef Varadi , Wizz Air CEO does not expect much from the summer travel , says, " can't count on a rebound in European travel this summer as travel restrictions persist and vaccine rollouts stutter".
Uncertainty over the easing of curbs make it impossible to predict levels of demand in three or four months, and whether an envisaged increase in capacity to between 70% and 80% of pre-pandemic levels is justified, Varadi said in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday.
“We need to reconcile these numbers with reality,” he said. “It might be possible to operate within these ranges, but we can’t guarantee it. It’s not a matter of capacity planning but governments imposing restrictions.”
Summer is vital for Europe's Travel industry , airlines are preparing well with lots of expectations , unlike Wizz air , EasyJet is optimistic and ready to increase its operations in may.
The Wizz CEO hopes of a Travel rebound , but unsure about the projections , as he believes , “whether this will happen over the summer or the winter or next spring, we don’t know , only a gradual traffic recovery into late summer.”
Europe has been much more restrictive with air-travel than anticipated, the CEO said, citing the U.K.’s dithering over which destinations will feature in a May 17 restart, together with fallout from delayed vaccination programs on the continent that “could take them a year to catch up.”
While North America and Asia are slowly restoring their travel capacities and some airlines like Delta Air Lines seeing a profit in the third quarter , Europe is lagging behind due to its geography.
Despite Slowdown, Wizz Air will go ahead with delivery of 27 new A320-series aircrafts in the next 12 months from Airbus.
Wizz’s 1.6 billion euros ($1.9 billion) of liquidity should last it for approaching three years at current levels of cash burn, the CEO said, and there are no plans to raise further funds.
