TAROM

Wizz Air: why Europe’s second lowest cost producer may be looking for fresh capital: IPO time?

The fast-growing Wizz Air Group, privately owned and not subject to the same financial and traffic reporting requirements as publicly listed companies, has remained a mystery when it comes to its cost structure and profitability. CAPA has obtained and analysed detailed financial and operating data and the results are presented in this article. The group’s cost base is certainly low – it has the second lowest unit costs among European carriers, with CASK more than one third lower than easyJet’s, and a track record of cutting ex fuel unit costs. This cost structure, built mainly on Europe's most productive and low-cost labour force, has helped Wizz Air to a strong market position in Central and Eastern Europe, where it was the leading LCC in the 12 months to Mar-2013.

Its last reported financial year (to Mar-2012) saw a healthy EBIT margin of 5.8%, after seeing net losses in six of the previous seven years, suggesting that the business may be maturing. Wizz's closest competitor, with overlap on around one quarter of its routes, is Ryanair, whose unit costs are 14% lower than Wizz Air’s. Ryanair is growing strongly in the region and this could threaten Wizz Air’s goal to become its largest carrier over the next decade unless it can continue to lower unit costs.

TAROM expands at Iasi while Wizz Air continues to grow elsewhere in Romania

TAROM has unveiled plans to develop its network in 4Q2012 and 2013 at Iasi which could potentially see a large scale expansion from the secondary Romanian city. However this comes as central European low-cost carrier Wizz Air continues to expand its Romanian network, both in the capital Bucharest and secondary cities, incuding Cluj, Craiova and Tirgu Mures. Wizz Air’s continuing expansion is likely to see it overtake TAROM as Romania’s largest passenger carrier.

Iasi is Romania’s fourth largest city based on population (263,000 as of the 2011 census) and is located in the northeast of the country close to the border with Moldova. Iasi is located approximately 400km north of Romania’s capital, Bucharest.

Known as the “Cultural Capital of Romania”, Iasi is a leading centre of academic, artistic, cultural and social life. The city is also an important economic centre in Romania, with several international companies with operations there including US-based Amazon.com.

Romania’s Carpatair is feeling the inroads of LCCs in its regional market

Carpatair has added its first Boeing 737 to its fleet of regional aircraft, allowing the airline to develop longer range routes and to reduce unit costs particularly on routes where it competes head-to-head with Wizz Air. By deploying higher capacity aircraft, Carpatair hopes to boost its competitiveness and adapt to the changing environment with LCCs increasingly expanding their footprint into regional markets.

Carpatair commenced operations in 1999 providing regional connectivity from Timişoara Traian Vuia International Airport to other cities in Romania as well as a number of international airports. The airline built its operations on the traditional hub-and-spoke model using a fleet of Saab 2000 and Fokker 70/Fokker 100 aircraft. Carpatair has developed step by step by remaining truthful to its niche approach and growing its market share versus TAROM, but the mushrooming LCCs are now forcing the carrier to rethink its model and branch out with longer range routes and higher capacity aircraft.

Europe's fringe carriers look for partners to overcome financial crisis; Cyprus Airways latest

Airlines on Europe's southern and eastern periphery are becoming more precariously positioned, but are looking for for partners to help overcome the growing financial crisis. Cyprus Airways is the latest such carrier, and reported a widening in first half losses in the six months to 30-Jun-2011, as lower top-line revenue fell and higher fuel costs squeezed the airline in the period. Cyprus Airways is also turning to implementing a raft of measures aimed at stemming operating losses.

European airlines report single-digit traffic growth in 2010; profits remain weak

European airlines reported single-digit growth last year - a welcome improvement from 2009's depressed level - but 2010 was a lacklustre year overall. Full year data has been released by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) and EUROCONTROL. As noted by EUROCONTROL, growth across the continent last year was driven mainly by LCCs.