(Reuters) – Wizz Air, a European low-cost airline, said Wednesday that it expects to have an operating loss for the first quarter of the current fiscal year and will report a bigger loss for the whole year. This comes as the industry as a whole is being disrupted by staff shortages at airports and problems with the supply chain.
The London-listed company said that demand for the summer was high, but that it had to use more resources to keep things running smoothly because of problems with operations.
In the past week, airports across Europe have had trouble keeping up with a rise in demand. British airports, in particular, have been a mess because the school half-term holiday and the platinum jubilee holiday weekend fell on the same weekend.
“There are problems in the supply chain at airports, including those in our network.” Staffing problems in air traffic control, security, and other parts of the supply chain are having a direct effect on airlines, our employees, and our customers, “József Váradi, the company’s CEO, said.
Wizz Air lost 642.5 million euros ($686.58 million) in the year that ended on March 31. This is more than the 576 million euros it lost the year before.
($1 = 0.9358 euros)