Wizz Air approaches historic milestone: Ambitious plans for 2025

2024 was significantly affected by the Pratt & Whitney engine recalls, which forced 20 percent of Wizz Air’s fleet, about 40 aircraft, to be grounded. The extraordinary maintenance was necessary due to material contamination. Despite all this, the company achieved a 4 percent increase in passenger numbers, increasing traffic from 60 million to 63 million.

Váradi highlighted that the company is planning a growth for 2025 that was previously only possible after recovering from extraordinary external factors, such as the Covid-19 downturn. “We have not grown in a ‘peace year’ at this time,” he said.

According to the CEO, one of the company’s biggest rivals, Ryanair, could be at a serious disadvantage due to Boeing’s transportation problems, which are slowing down the expansion of its fleet.

The state takeover of Liszt Ferenc International Airport and its operation by Vinci could also affect Hungarian air transport. According to Váradi, gaining ownership control of the airport could be beneficial in the long term, but the effectiveness of the expected developments is still questionable.

Wizz Air is continuously expanding its route network: the London-Jeddah flight will start in the summer, and the Milan-Abu Dhabi route was previously announced. In addition, negotiations are underway to open the Indian market, which could create new opportunities.