Surprise announcement made by Wizz Air on the topic of the kerosene crisis and the increase in ticket prices: “We believe that certain practices recently observed in the market may conflict with the rights of passengers”

The largest aviation company operating in Romania conveys that the messages related to a fuel crisis in the immediate period have a note of alarmism.

The blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and the prospect of a fuel crisis are causing shivers including in the area of ​​airline companies, but also of passengers who wonder if they will have enough flights available during the summer vacation.

While Lufthansa has decided to cancel 20,000 flights amid rising fuel prices and Ryanair is talking about uncertainties about the summer, representatives of the Hungarian company Wizz Air are not showing signs of great concern.

This is according to statements made in the Italian press by Salvatore Gabriele Imperiale, Corporate Communications Manager of Wizz Air.

“In our view, there is an excess of alarmism. The main problem at the moment is not the availability of fuel, but its price: in Europe there is fuel, and the system continues to work. There have been isolated and temporary incidents at some Italian airports, but they have had no operational impact: no cancellations, no grounded aircraft and no significant delays. In terms of our position, we have fuel coverage (hedging) of 70% for the next six months and about 60% until March 2027. This guarantees us good visibility on costs. In addition, we use operational strategies such as refueling at airports where fuel is available in larger quantities. In an emergency scenario, these levers, together with our internal procedures, allow us to deal with the situation effectively,” he told the website FanPage.it.

He also talked about the risk of increasing ticket prices.

“Fuel is an important component of costs for all companies, but its impact is not uniform. In our case, we do not foresee automatic price increases, nor the introduction of additional taxes or retroactive surcharges. We believe that certain practices observed recently in the market may conflict with passenger rights; our ability to absorb part of the costs is due to several factors. In addition to hedging and tankering, we have a very efficient fleet: the average age is approx. 4.5 years, and 75% of the aircraft are part of the Airbus A320neo family, which consumes around 17% less than previous generations. This combination allows us to limit the impact of the high fuel price without passing it on to passengers,” he added.