easyJet has announced that it has rejected a bid from Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air. Instead, Europe’s second-largest low-cost carrier behind Ryanair has opted to raise a further US$1.7 billion from shareholders as it looks to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic on the aviation industry. Commenting on the potential all-share deal, easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren told reporters that the approach was “highly conditional in its nature which made it very uncertain in terms of the deliverability,” though no specific details were provided. easyJet has already raised US$7.65 billion through a combination of shareholders and debt markets together with selling and leasing back several aircraft, and announced a further US$400 million debt facility last Thursday.
Meanwhile, industry sources have revealed that Wizz Air has been in talks with Airbus for several months over a potential deal for at least 100 more narrow-body jets. In many ways the offer for easyJet by Wizz Air made a lot of sense as both carriers operate an all-Airbus fleet, with Wizz Air having ordered 388 Airbus jets to date. Wizz Air is especially strong in Eastern European destinations such as Poland and Romania, while easyJet has a strong presence in countries including Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France. While Wizz Air’s strategic move shows the carrier’s clear intentions to challenge Ryanair, combined passenger numbers of Wizz Air and easyJet would still lag behind Ryanair by some 20 million passengers per annum.
