Wizz Air Holdings PLC National travel ban in Poland (1878G)

TIDMWIZZ

RNS Number : 1878G

Wizz Air Holdings PLC

15 March 2020

This announcement was first issued by Wizz Air Holdings Plc

on Saturday 14 March 2020

Wizz Air Holdings Plc

NATIONAL TRAVEL BAN IN POLAND FORCES WIZZ AIR TO SUSPEND ALL POLISH FLIGHTS

Ticker: WIZZ

Geneva, 14 March 2020 : Wizz Air Holdings Plc ("Wizz Air" or the "Company"), the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, today announced that as a result of the travel restrictions imposed on all foreign flights announced by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki effective as of 00:00 HRS March 15, 2020, the airline has suspended all its flights to and from Poland until further notice.

The travel restrictions come as a response to minimise the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Starting from 00:00 HRS local time on 15 March 2020, no foreign citizens will be allowed to enter Poland, while Polish citizens arriving from abroad will be placed in quarantine. Passengers with bookings affected by flight suspensions will be automatically informed via e-mail, in case the customers booked directly on wizzair.com or via the airline's mobile app. The health and safety of crew and passengers remains Wizz Air's top priority.

The travel ban imposed by the Polish government affects 20% of Wizz Air's capacity. At this point in time it is difficult to predict the duration and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Wizz Air as governments across Europe are implementing strategies to cope with the virus, however, the company's ultra-low cost business model and our strong balance sheet with EUR1.3bn of free cash (as at 31 December 2019) provide a solid foundation and a significant competitive advantage in the current challenging environment for airlines, while also making us a long-term structural winner in the aviation sector.

The Company will provide a pre-close year end trading statement ahead of the Company's full year F20 close period that starts on 1 April 2020.

ABOUT WIZZ AIR

Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, offers more than 710 routes from 25 bases, connecting 154 destinations across 45 countries. A team of more than 5,000 aviation professionals delivers superior service and very low fares making Wizz Air the preferred choice of 40 million passengers in the past 12 months. WIZZ operates an all-Airbus fleet of 121 aircraft. Its A320s are equipped with 180 seats, its A321s with 230 seats and its A321neo aircraft with 239 seats. According to the latest data of the Swiss airline intelligence provider CH-Aviation, Wizz Air has one of the youngest airline fleets in the world. Wizz Air is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker WIZZ and is included in the FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share Indices. Wizz Air is registered under the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), the global benchmark in airline safety recognition. The company was recently named one of the world's top ten safest airlines by airlineratings.com, the world's only safety and product rating agency, and 2019 - Airline of the Year by Air Transport Awards the only international awards that recognizes the year's most outstanding performers in the aerospace industry in the most important categories.

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 For more information: 
 
 Investors:    Evelin Horvath, Wizz Air                            [phone] 
 
 Media:        Tamara Vallois, Wizz Air:                           [phone] 
  Edward Bridges / Jonathan Neilan, FTI Consulting 
   LLP:                                                            [phone] 
 
 

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March 16, 2020 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)