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Wizz Air Group

Wizz Air

Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, offers more than 920 routes from 40 bases, connecting 260 destinations across 47 countries, having carried 40+ million passengers in 2019.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)

22 Nov 2021 · Recovery, Slots, SES

Response to Contingency plan for transport

28 Sept 2021

While Wizz Air has not been immune to the pandemic’s impact, it has dealt with it on market terms and maintained a strong liquidity position without State aid. Although the most obvious impact was due to the travel restrictions, the dramatically decreasing passenger traffic and the revenue loss, it was much more complex in nature. The measures that could decrease the negative impact of similar events in the future include the following. A unified approach for travel restrictions: the logic used by governments to impose new restrictions shall be unified, along with the related processes. This would decrease the number of politically driven policies made by those that have limited knowledge of the impacted industries’ processes, and of the additional loss caused. It would also provide citizens more clarity on the rules applicable. Effective support from the EU for legislation that unfairly weighed on related industries due to the pandemic. The Commission’s guidance issued in 2020 March regarding the EC261 Regulation’s applicability to COVID-19 related cancellations, was a key step in understanding what circumstances could be considered as extraordinary. The guidance has been, however, applied differently depending on jurisdiction as it was considered as just a recommendation and authorities often ignored it. Airlines shall not to take full responsibility for document verification: When the pandemic hit, the responsibility to check and 100% accurately verify passports, covid test documents, vaccination and passenger locator forms was placed on airlines, as border control was unable to support these processes with sufficient resources. This placed an unfair burden on airlines. This has been complicated by different rules in each country, short time to adjust (changes were often immediate), and high inadmissible passenger penalties imposed for the slightest oversight. Airport congestions became frequent due to the slow validation and border control processes (often a prerequisite to allow return flights to depart), leading to delays. Mandatory readiness checks for reopening: Due to the downsizing in the sector, not all companies in aviation could be agile enough to staff up for reopening. It is imperative to establish mandatory readiness check processes for example for airports, ground handlers etc., to ensure that by the time of reopening, all necessary staff is fully available and trained. Fair and balanced support for affected industries: The substantial financial support provided to traditional carriers compromised airlines that are self-supporting. Stricter measures are needed to prevent that companies with unsustainable business models be rewarded. Instead, airport operators, ground handling providers or air navigation services should be the main participants of government aid, to prevent professionals from leaving the industry. If charges are increased to make up for losses, it slows recovery down. Airline Crew: To ensure continuous connectivity, the cabin and flight crew shall be handled as special category. As for vaccination, prioritizing those who work as airline crew would enhance ramp-up capabilities and accelerate travel recovery. Another point is crew training. Airlines do not have training facilities in each country. Trainings and exams require that candidates travel. This turned out to be a considerable challenge, especially travelling to/from non-EU countries. Crew exams include swimming, which was another obstacle as pools were closed due to lockdown measures. The limitations around the movements of crew also created issues (crew on duty, positioning crew, crew travelling for training etc). Airline Insolvency: Civil Aviation Authorities shall be responsible for the financial oversight of airlines. These regulators shall comply with their statutory responsibility to ensure the airlines’ financial fitness (similarly to the change in the regulatory framework in the banking sector after the financial crisis).
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Meeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)

24 Feb 2021 · Slot regulation

Meeting with Adina-Ioana Vălean (Commissioner)

22 Feb 2021 · Introductory meeting where the impact of Covid on aviation was discussed.

Meeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)

18 Jan 2021 · Slot regulation

Meeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)

11 Jun 2020 · recovery of aviation sector following the COVID-19 pandemic

Meeting with Mauro Raffaele Petriccione (Director-General Climate Action)

25 Feb 2020 · Green Deal