Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) announced on Monday a 13% rise in passenger volumes for the month of February. Shares in the flyer were up during early trading Monday morning.
The company offers over 650 routes from 26 bases, connecting 146 destinations across 44 countries.
The largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe flew roughly 2.4 million passengers over the month, expanding its full capacity by 9.3%.
Over the period, the FTSE 250 company also expanded its network, offering five new routes to and from Poland, Ukraine and Budapest. Two new destination airports to Spain and Norway were also revealed.
Two new Airbus A321 aircraft have been added, expanding the flyer’s fleet to 108 aircraft.
Wizz Air, however, suffered last year as rising fuel and staff costs impacted earnings. During its third quarter the Hungarian airline reported a pre-tax profit of €1.8 million, which compares to €14.6 million the year prior. Despite this, its passenger numbers over the period were up 15%.
Several airlines have been struggling recently, with EasyJet (LON:EZJ) announcing earlier this year that the Gatwick drone sightings cost the budget airline £15 million.
Ryanair (LON:RYA) posted a loss for its third quarter. Like WIzz Air, its passenger numbers were up, rising from 30.4 million to 30.2 million. However, as average fares decreased and costs rose, the airline reported a €19.6 million loss for the period.
The aviation industry could, however, see trade increase over the next few months as the Brexit date looms closer. The CEO of Heathrow said that it could benefit from additional trade if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal and if other modes of transport become blocked by additional congestion.
At 08:15 GMT Monday, shares in Wizz Air Holdings plc (LON:WIZZ) were trading at +0.033%.
Ryanair Holdings plc (LON:RYA) shares were trading at -0.079% (08:15 GMT).
EasyJet plc (LON:EZJ) shares were trading at -0.028 (08:16 GMT).
