Budget carrier Wizz carried a record number of 51 million passengers in the year to March 31, and predicts it will return to profitability in the next 12 months.
Its net loss for the 2023 financial year was €535.1 million, an improvement of €107.4 million compared to the F22 net loss.
Revenues reached another company record of €3.9 billion – up 134% year on year and a 41% increase on pre-Covid levels in F20.
József Váradi, Wizz Air Group chief executive, said: “F23 was a year of significant growth for the business, with our key operational and financial performance metrics moving in the right direction as we transition into the post-Covid era.
“The effects of fuel price increases and structural capacity issues at airports remained features throughout the year, but we are mitigating these.
More: Wizz Air projects return to profit in next 12 months
“This strong revenue performance has also been driven by strengthening load factors throughout the financial year – reaching 92.2% for the final month of F23.
“As we look ahead, we are optimistic for the current financial year and our focus continues to be on returning to net profit in F24.
“We are confident in delivering this having spent much of the last year building an even better and operationally more resilient business, investing in our people, operations, and network, as well as now deploying a systematic fuel and currency hedging programme.”
He said the first quarter of the current financial year has seen “strong” trading with “attractive” pricing.
For the second quarter, average fares per passenger (combined ticket and ancillary) are also trending higher than the same period last year.
The airline’s net profit is expected to be between €350 and €450 million in F24.
“We are now well placed to continue to drive profitable growth through the rest of the decade and beyond,” said Váradi.