In the summer of 2021, there will be particularly cheap flight tickets from Vienna-Schwechat due to overcapacity coupled with cautious demand. In the medium term, Wizz Air is expecting a consolidation of the market and thus also rising prices. This is what airline boss József Váradi said in an interview with the daily newspaper “Der Standard”.

The manager describes the current market situation in Vienna as “bad” and points out that things are going better in Romania, Algeria, Macedonia, Serbia and Scandinavia, for example. In Austria, demand is expected to be around ten percent of the pre-crisis level, and 35 percent in the aforementioned markets.

Váradi is particularly critical of the state aid granted to Austrian Airlines. In an interview with the Standard, he describes this as “a waste of tax money”. Vienna and Salzburg are important markets in Wizz Air's strategy. The aim in Austria is still a market share of around 20 percent. In the summer of 2021, city trips are currently hardly in demand. Much more - so Váradi - the passengers would book more flights to the Mediterranean.

The airline manager expects demand to rise, but from a financial point of view, the year 2021 has already been ticked off. Váradi assumes that Wizz Air will make a significant loss this year as well. If the vaccinations progress, he expects a profit for the coming year.

When asked about the minimum prices for flight tickets planned by Austria's Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens), the Wizz Air boss took a verbal all-round attack against competitor Austrian Airlines: “Every kilometer that a passenger flies with AUA is twice that polluting than with Wizz Air. The claim that low-cost airlines are bad for the environment is wrong. It is the airlines that pollute the environment that are now receiving support and tax money - AUA, Air France, KLM etc. They pollute the environment, are economically inefficient and eat up taxpayers' money - for nothing ”.

He also refers to the example of the Hungarian Malev. After their involuntary exit from the market, the volume of traffic in Budapest would have increased significantly. Regarding the future of Austrian Airlines, József Váradi told the Standard: “You have to ask the Austrian government how much money it is willing to waste on the Austrian airline in the future.”