Ryanair chief repeats belief Wizz Air will soon be acquired by another company

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has said he continues to believe Wizz Air will soon be acquired by a private equity firm or a larger airline.

O’Leary, who has previously been quoted as predicting Wizz Air’s demise as an independent carrier, described the Hungarian airline as “not really a competitor at all” during Ryanair’s earnings call for the first quarter of the 2026 financial year.

He said: “I continue to believe that the consolidation process in Europe will ultimately see Wizz taken out by someone. 

“I’m surprised that some of the Middle East airlines haven’t moved on Wizz given the collapse of their market cap.”

He added: “I don’t believe Wizz will be operating in Europe in the next three to five years as an independent carrier and certainly not if their strategy is to move into more competition with Ryanair.”

He revealed he was “somewhat surprised” by Wizz Air’s reasons for withdrawing from its Abu Dhabi operations.

He said: “We were somewhat surprised at the excuses they came up with for the withdrawal from Abu Dhabi. Apparently it’s because it’s a desert out there and therefore there are significant cost penalties on engines.

“But then we say to them, ‘Why are you not closing your bases in Saudi Arabia, which is equally a desert with an engine penalty?’

“Wizz have always been inventive when it comes to explaining commercial failures and flip flops on commercial failure.

“A couple of years ago, they were going to expand into Vienna and Italy and challenge Ryanair, but they quietly retreated out of both into the Middle East which was going to account for a third of their traffic. They’re now going to be retreating out of the Middle East.”

He said if Wizz Air bases more aircraft in central and eastern Europe, it will highlight Ryanair’s “enormous cost advantage and price advantage”.

“In every market where Wizz has tried to enter and compete against Ryanair, they have ultimately failed and withdrawn and I think that trend will continue,” he said, adding: “Wizz Air is not a low-cost competitor of Ryanair – it’s a high-cost competitor and therefore not really a competitor at all.”

A Wizz Air spokesperson said: “Rather than speculate on the comments and actions of our competitors, Wizz is focussed on connecting our passengers to and from central and eastern Europe where we see uncontested markets and economic prosperity driving disproportionally higher demand for air travel.

“This demand profile allows us to make the most of our aircraft, as we expect to become the first major airline to operate a 100% ‘neo’ fleet in the coming years thanks to our Airbus orderbook.

“These aircraft are scheduled to arrive sooner than the equivalent model from Boeing, carry more passengers and consume less fuel – all of which leads to a significant cost and emissions advantage.”