Wizz Air targets 5-10% increase in passenger numbers on Budapest flights

Hungarian low-fare airline Wizz Air expects passenger numbers on Hungarian flights to grow 5-10% this year by expanding capacity, CEO Jozsef Varadi told MTI on Tuesday.

Passenger numbers on Wizz Air’s Hungarian flights climbed 13% to 1,359,000 in 2011.

Passenger numbers on all of Wizz Air’s flights last year rose 15% to more than 11m. The average load factor on the flights was more than 84%.

Wizz Air said passenger numbers on the Hungarian flights rose for the seventh year in a row, unprecedented on the market.

Wizz Air flies to 23 destinations from Budapest and it will add a scheduled Budapest-Dortmund flight to the timetable from January 13.

Wizz Air employs 270 people at its base in Budapest and it creates employment for a further 1,500 people at its suppliers. Most of the airline’s maintenance, accounting, IT and customer service activities take place in Hungary.

Wizz Air employ a total of 1,500 people in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Lithuania and Switzerland.

Last year, the airline opened three new bases, in Belgrade, Vilnius and Targu Mures, bringing the total number to 15.

Wizz Air flies 200 routes with a fleet of 34 Airbus A320 aircraft.