One of Europe's leading budget airlines has admitted that plane tickets are about to get significantly more expensive.
Wizz Air's boss has said that the price of a plane ticket might jump by close to 10% this summer as European travellers try to get away after two years of heavy travel restrictions.
Jozsef Varadi said that prices have already climbed in relatively terms and that they will continue to do so between July and September.
The announcement is a blow for cash-strapped Brits looking to get away on the cheap this summer.
“Our bookings are showing strong performance in the first fiscal quarter, with average fares trending higher at low single digits versus (the) same period in F20 (financial year ending March 2020),” the Hungarian airline's boss said.
Would you still use Wizz Air if its prices rose 10%? Tell us in the comments below.
“For fiscal quarter two, we expect fares in the upper single digits ahead of the equivalent period F20.”
Wizz Air also warned that recent disruption at airports will probably lead to the airline making an operating loss in the first quarter of its financial year.
This will likely have a knock on effect on customers.
“Shortages of staff in air traffic control, security and other parts of the supply chain are impacting airlines, our employees and our customers directly,” Mr Varadi said.
“We see strong consumer demand for summer, but expect an operating loss for the first quarter of F23.
“The airline industry remains exposed to externalities such as air traffic control disruption and continuing operational issues within the airports sector, adding to a volatile macro environment.
“As a result, at this point, we are not providing further financial guidance for the year.”
Budget airlines such as Wizz Air are having a difficult time at the moment, despite a recent spike in demand.
The number of passengers Wizz carried more than doubled from 10.2 million to 27.1 million in the year to the end of March.
Revenue rose 125% to 1.7 billion euros (£1.5 billion), while pre-tax loss rose from 567 million euros to 642 million (£482 million to £546 million).
Have you been affected by the travel chaos? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com.
