 |
| Jozsef-Varadi-ceo-wizz-air |
· CEO bullish about prospects for low-cost carrier during ATM
Virtual interview
· Forecast based on Wizz Air growth in EU over past 15 years
During
an interview
with aviation industry consultant John
Strickland, during ATM Virtual, Wizz Air CEO, Joszef
Varadi, confirmed his
ambitions for the low-cost carrier’s impending move to operate out of Abu
Dhabi.
“If you look at what we’ve been able to achieve in
the EU, we managed to grow our fleet to 100 aircraft over the last 15 years and
we should be able to do the same thing in Abu Dhabi.”
Expanding on his forecast, he added, “You should be
looking at our platform, not necessarily just Abu Dhabi, we want to serve the
UAE and possibly the broader GCC markets.”
 |
| John-Strickland-director-of-jls-consulting |
Celebrating its 16th anniversary, Wizz
Air employs more than 4,500 people and flew 40 million passengers, to 151
airports in 44 countries, on 710 routes last year. It has a young fleet of 120 Airbus
aircraft with an option to buy a further 20
Airbus A321XLR aircraft, the most
cost-efficient aircraft of its type.
Varadi went to talk about the current situation and
the desire to travel, versus the ability to travel. He claimed that his
customers were motivated to travel especially younger customers, who generally
are more adventurous and less affected by the pandemic.
However, the inconsistent response from different governments
to the COVID-19 situation was not supporting the industry and that a framework
of regulations was needed, to enable aviation to recover.
“Airports did well after 9/11 introducing heightened
security measures and we need similar measures regarding health and safety.
While airports and airlines are quiet it is easier to practice social
distancing, but not when we start to become busier,” he said.
Regarding onboard health and safety, Varadi believes
the industry is stepping up. But measures such as simply blocking the middle
seat, or implementing onboard distancing, is impractical and will not work.
“There is no scientific evidence to suggest any
passengers have contracted the virus while flying. In fact, the air filtration
onboard aircraft is comparable with an intensive care unit,” he said.
He also made an interesting comparison.
“Why is going to the restaurant, or the supermarket,
safer than boarding an aircraft, when we can manage and trace our passengers
more easily?
“However, I do support wearing masks, hand sanitising,
disinfecting and reducing the amount of high touch points such as cash payments
for onboard catering and inflight magazines,” he said.
According to Strickland, Wizz Air has funding
totalling 1.5 billion euros and current ‘operating’ expenses of 90 million
euros per month during the summer and 70 million euros per month during the
winter, which compares favourably with Lufthansa which is burning through one
million euros per hour!
When asked about surviving the current coronavirus
crisis, Varadi had a typically upbeat message. “It’s all about liquidity and
what that provides to your business. If we do not fly a single passenger for
the next 24 months we will still be in business, so we are well positioned to
take advantage of the situation,” he said.
Coming out of the crisis, Varadi believes that the
ensuing recession will also create greater challenges for the industry than the
outbreak itself. Short-haul, low-cost carriers such as Wizz Air will be better
placed to recover initially, because the lowest costs prevail. Some passengers
will also look to downgrade from legacy carriers to save money.
In terms of corporate travel, companies will look to
reduce their expenses post COVID-19, so corporate travel will take longer to
recover. But he believes that would also be of benefit to Wizz Air, as
businesses look for more cost-effective flights.
The
aviation industry has been a recurring theme throughout the three-day virtual
event and included an interview
with aviation industry veteran Sir Tim
Clark, President of Emirates Airline with respected aviation expert John
Strickland, Director of JLS Consulting during the opening session,
where he outlined the company’s response to COVID-19 and its impact on their future
strategy.
Also
on day one, was the ‘Communicating
and Building Confidence Now’ session led by Travel Weekly Executive
Editor, Ian
Taylor. The panel of global travel leaders provided thought
leadership on empathetic communication during a crisis and included Dr.
Taleb Rifai,
Chairman, International Institute of Peace for Tourism (IIPT) and former Secretary
General of the UNWTO; Bernard
Dunn, President, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, Boeing; Gerald
Lawless, World Travel and
Tourism Council (WTTC) ambassador and Director of ITIC; and Haitham
Mattar, CEO, Beyond Tourism.
In
addition, a
webinar by Cirium, the data intelligence experts, which took place
on the final day of the virtual event, showcased the power of analytics in
supporting business performance.
The Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia and the
Italian Tourist Board are both Gold sponsors of ATM Virtual.
ATM Virtual concluded on Wednesday 3rd June 2020. This session is available on demand until tomorrow (Friday 5th June) for
those who are already registered. For access, please go to: atmvirtual.eventnetworking.com/online-conference/1579
Those
who did not register for ATM Virtual will be able to access the session from
next week on the WTM Global Hub: hub.wtm.com.
