Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 10

Q&A

József Váradi
CEO, Wizz Air

Jetrader recently had the opportunity to speak with
Wizz Air Co-Founder and CEO József Váradi about a range
of topics, including the company's continued growth in
the Central and Eastern European market and beyond.

Like some executives in aviation, you didn't start
your career in this industry. What led you here,
and what has kept you here for the past decade
and a half?
It's a good question, but I'm not sure I have a
good answer to it, because I sort of ended up with
the airline industry, really. I worked for Procter &
Gamble for a decade or so and had to travel a lot,
given my responsibilities at the time. As a customer,
I was exposed to the airline industry, and I always
found a level of dissatisfaction with regards to the
way airlines were doing business, how inefficient
they were and how, in a way, insensitive they were
with consumer needs. At that time, I was at P&G,
which is a great business for consumer marketing and
consumer insight.
Having been trained by Procter & Gamble, I found
that I could bring something fairly unique to the industry. At that time, the industry was very regulated,
very unfocused on the consumer, and I thought those
consumer insights could help me make a difference.
What factors led you to co-found Wizz Air nearly
15 years ago?
It was a unique opportunity. Wizz Air was founded
in 2003, and I don't think it could have happened
any earlier because of the regulations in place at
that time. Let's not forget that 1 May, 2004, was the
date of accession for 10 countries to the European
Union, including the countries in Central and Eastern
Europe. That partially created the opportunity for
starting up an airline like Wizz Air. Before that, the
regulations wouldn't have allowed that to happen, and
after that, competition overtook the market. There
was a small window of time to do this, and it was
very clear that the incumbent industry was not up to
speed with regards to the new situation. It was not
10 The official publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading



Jetrader - Winter 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jetrader - Winter 2017

A Message from the President
Calendar/News
Q&A: József Váradi, CEO, Wizz Air
Looking Up
On the Horizon: ISTAT’s 2018 Events
Announcing: ISTAT Aviation Insights
Test in the West
Q&A: David Swan, COO, SMBC Aviation Capital
ISTAT Value Definitions
Witchcraft vs. Voodoo Power
From the ISTAT Photo Archives
Aviation History
Aircraft Appraisals
ISTAT Foundation
Advertiser Index
Advertiser.com
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Intro
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - cover1
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - cover2
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 3
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 4
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - A Message from the President
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 6
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 7
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Calendar/News
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 9
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Q&A: József Váradi, CEO, Wizz Air
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 11
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 12
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 13
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Looking Up
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 15
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 16
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 17
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 18
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 19
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 20
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 21
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 22
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 23
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 24
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - On the Horizon: ISTAT’s 2018 Events
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 26
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 27
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Announcing: ISTAT Aviation Insights
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 29
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 30
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 31
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Test in the West
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 33
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 34
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 35
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Q&A: David Swan, COO, SMBC Aviation Capital
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 37
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 38
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 39
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - ISTAT Value Definitions
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 41
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 42
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 43
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Witchcraft vs. Voodoo Power
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 45
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 46
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - From the ISTAT Photo Archives
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Aviation History
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 49
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 50
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Aircraft Appraisals
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 52
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 53
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 54
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - ISTAT Foundation
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 56
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Advertiser Index
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - Advertiser.com
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - cover3
Jetrader - Winter 2017 - cover4
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