Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 12

I see the consumer needs and what we're
tackling here as totally universal: it is not
limited to a certain market; it's absolutely
global and universal. The consumer need is the
same in the United States as it is in Europe.
well. By the way, we believe that the A321
is the most efficient and economically
effective narrowbody aircraft of today's
world. We're seeing a great reduction
in costs as a result of our choice, which
enables us to continue to stimulate the
market, so we like the aircraft, we're sticking with the aircraft, and we're sticking
with the single fleet.

the business and get people into the franchise of flying. With that, I think we are
much under the core customer need on cost
and pricing. When you ask the customers
what they want to have when they fly and
choose an airline, 80 percent of the matter
is around cost and pricing. Other factors
like airport choice become secondary by a
big margin.

In 2015, you called the A321 a "game
changer" for Wizz Air in that the
239-seat configuration would help
reduce unit costs against the existing
fleet. In the two years since you made
that statement, how has your prediction held up?
That prediction was just confirmed and
reassured with the actual operation of the
aircraft. In some cases, we are seeing over
a 10 percent cost reduction by flying the
A321 compared to the A320, and this is
on the CEO technology. We aren't flying
the NEO technology yet, but looking at
data available in the industry, we believe
that this is going to provide an additional
10 percent cost deduction. So by the time
we fly the 239-seater A321neo, that will
give us a 20 percent lower unit cost than
the A320ceo. Over time, we are moving
the balance, and three or four years from
now, more than half of the fleet will be
composed of A321ceos and NEOs, so we
absolutely feel like it is the best narrowbody aircraft available.

Speaking of fellow LCCs, one carrier
often compared to Wizz Air is Ryanair,
which has made inroads in Central and
Eastern Europe. Is there room for both
carriers in the Central and Eastern
European region?
If you look at the numbers, our unit
cost is now matching Ryanair's. As their
costs are creeping, we are likely to become
the single lowest-cost producer of any
airline in Europe if we are not there
already. Secondly, we have been growing our business, around 20 percent year
over year for the third year now, and even
before that, we were delivering 15  or
17 percent growth.
This market is not down to one airline,
and we do think Ryanair will have success
in Central and Eastern Europe. They have a
good business model that fits the requirements of the market, but let's not forget
that we are delivering this business at the
lowest cost of any airline. On the contrary,
we actually are aware of the various cultures in Europe. Many of the people who
travel don't speak many languages, so we
have local crews in every country, and I
think it is important to people that when
they fly they can relate to something that
makes them comfortable.
Also I would say that we have a
well- educated staff. Around 80 percent of the cabin crew has a university
or college degree, and they understand
intellectually that a smile does not cost
money. A smile is a matter of attitude,

One challenge that low-cost carriers
often face is the conflict between offering additional services to attract new
passengers while keeping costs low. How
does Wizz Air approach this?
I think that question needs to be taken
in context. We are not yet in saturated
markets where you essentially have to steal
customers from other players. The game
for us is to stimulate the market, grow

12 The official publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading

and that's how they approach their job and
their customers. I think that makes a significant difference and is a huge benefit
for us versus our competitors.
After the company's IPO on the London
Stock Exchange in 2015, has day-to-day
business changed much?
Not really. I think the IPO helped us create more public awareness of the strength
of the business, especially with the investor and financial markets. We are seeing
a stronger and stronger franchise, given
the growth of the business, also in the
eyes of the consumer. We try to retain the
strengths of the company, being adaptive
and quick in decision making and efficient
in execution. At the same time, obviously,
since we are a public company, we have
to scrutinize the business in a bigger way
and pay attention to various matters to
comply with. You don't want to lose what
actually made this business a success in
the past, so you retain those attitudes
in the future.
With Wizz Air's continued growth, is
there one aspect of the company's evolution that interests you the most?
This industry is very exciting, as a
whole. If you don't like the thrill or the
continuous challenges, you don't come to
the airline business. That's the fun part of
it. It is very exciting to see how quickly
the environment is changing. If you look
at some of the consumer technologies,
how they affect consumer behavior and
how that gets reflected in the airline
business, it's quite amazing. Look at life
10 or 15 years ago. Who was booking over
the internet? But now, we are getting
essentially 100  percent of our bookings
over the internet. I remember in 2004
when we started, we were told that going
only online on distribution was a failing
strategy and we would not make it, and
now everyone is trying to adopt to that.
Now the new sentiment is smartphones,
and how you use the smartphone as a
communication and engagement device
as a consumer. I think this continuous
need of adapting to the changing consumer preferences and requirements keeps
you on your toes and makes this business
very exciting.
Jetrader - Winter 2017

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