Budget carrier Wizz Air is to slash growth from the UK following the Brexit vote.
The central and eastern European carrier revealed today that planned growth from the UK would be halved in the current financial year ending March 2017.
“The UK’s decision to leave the European Union has led to a notable weakness in fares in euro terms on routes to/from the UK mainly due to the much weaker British pound which is currently 19% lower than the same period last year versus the euro,” the airline said.
“Wizz Air has already started re-adjusting its network due to this weakness and halving its intended second half growth to the UK and re-deploying this capacity to other non-UK routes.”
The disclosure came as the carrier reported a record first quarter with pre-tax profit up by 52.2% to €52.3 million with total revenue up by 9.8% to €364.9 million.
This came as a result of a 17.9% rise in passenger carryings to 5.8 million in the three months to June 30.
Chief executive József Váradi said: “Our record first quarter financial performance underpins the resilience of our ultra-low cost business model.
“While Wizz Air is not immune to the recent challenges in our industry we believe our ultra-low cost base, diversified point-to-point network and ability to adjust capacity quickly when needed enables us to better respond to these challenges than many other European airlines and also means we are well placed to exploit market opportunities as they arise.
“It is on this basis that today we are confirming our underlying net profit guidance for the full financial year ended 31 March 2017.
“Our ultra-low cost model, reinforced with a delivery stream of brand new A321 aircraft, gives us a clear cost advantage versus most of our rivals.”