The Wizz Air Group entered the “compensation trade” some time ago and offers passengers the opportunity to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by their flight. At a conference, CEO Jozsef Varadi, of all people, made downright derogatory comments about such programs.

During World Routes Milan, the manager described compensation offers as "a bit of a joke". It is only about greenwashing and would really do no good. Apparently, during his speech, Varadi was not even aware that the company he led was offering optional compensations in a downright penetrating manner.

It was accordingly funny: A journalist confronted the Wizz Air boss with this fact during the usual Q&A. Really confused, Varadi stared at his employees and asked the question: “Are we really doing this?”.

After the Wizz Air boss had to admit that something is being offered that he doesn't believe in and obviously didn't know, he defended his point of view. “But that doesn't change the world. Imagine: You are flying in an old shitty plane, yes, you then pollute the world like hell. Do you really think that when you plant two trees, everything is done? "

It is also noteworthy that Wizz Air calls itself the “greenest airline in Europe”. Incidentally, the competitor Ryanair does the same, although neither group has publicly disclosed the principles behind the respective self-nomination. However, both low costers regularly rumble against competitors such as Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa or Air France and accuse the use of old, particularly climate-damaging aircraft.