This is the statement issued by Skyeurope yesterday.
So has Wizzair finally reached its end? 8O
Or is this Skyeurope trying to cover its own problems?
Any more info on this matter?
SkyEurope concerned about Wizz Air troubles
01.12.2004
Recently published news about Wizz Air’s difficulties to fulfill its current financial obligations has raised concerns by SkyEurope about the negative impact this signal could have on the whole low cost airline industry in Central Europe.
The fact that Wizz Air reportedly did not pay airport taxes to Budapest airport raises questions about its financial capabilities. On top of that it shows unfair competitive practices, since airlines get not treated in the same way.
Wizz Air financial constraints may be heavily connected with its inability to raise new fresh money. Till today Wizz Air only secured 6.2 million Euro of equity funding, which is insufficient for future operation. Announced plans to raise further 40 million Euro of fresh capital did not succeed, as the announced investor provided so far only a 3 million Euro convertible loan.
Unpaid services to suppliers, a weak financial position and frequent flight cancellations demonstrate substantial problems. Similar problems have been experienced by Volareweb and V Bird leading to their respective bankruptcies this year.
SkyEurope is backed by strong financial institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Fund (EIF), ABN AMRO Bank and Bank Austria Creditanstalt, and recently raised 10 million Euro of equity funding, as part of a 50 million Euro overall funding programme.
SkyEurope has extensive experience as the first low cost low fare airline in Central Europe with 3 years of successful operation and more than 1 million carried passengers.
Wizzair soon bankrupt?
Moderator: Latest news team
Maybe, who will tell...
Lately something is going wrong in that Low Cost Market.
In central-east Europe, they all grow very fast :
-Air Polonia
-Wizzair
-Sky Europe
-soon Polishwings
-...
Easyjet and Ryanair are starting to operate more and more on Central-Eastern Airports.
Sooner or later some of them will go down...
First Air Ponolia ? Or Wizz ?? (or they take a Wizz...
)
Good luck to them...
Hope it will not go that fast (started this year in June ?)
Rgds
Lately something is going wrong in that Low Cost Market.
In central-east Europe, they all grow very fast :
-Air Polonia
-Wizzair
-Sky Europe
-soon Polishwings
-...
Easyjet and Ryanair are starting to operate more and more on Central-Eastern Airports.
Sooner or later some of them will go down...
First Air Ponolia ? Or Wizz ?? (or they take a Wizz...
)Good luck to them...
Hope it will not go that fast (started this year in June ?)
Rgds
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Humberside
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SicilianFalcon
- Posts: 390
- Joined: 11 Oct 2004, 00:00
Daaaamn !
I have a flight booked to Warsaw on the 14th of january (comming back on the 17th)...
Anyway: i hope i don't loose my money !
One thing is for sure:
They are giving away just too many promotions...
Wizzair gives away free tickets all the time, i think it would be better for them (maybe not for me as a passenger) that they do things like Airpolonia does...
They have their prices, and they almost don't change untill 1-2 weeks before departure...
@ThomasCook:
Can you tell me some more about this Polishwings? I never heard about these plans....
I have a flight booked to Warsaw on the 14th of january (comming back on the 17th)...
Anyway: i hope i don't loose my money !
One thing is for sure:
They are giving away just too many promotions...
Wizzair gives away free tickets all the time, i think it would be better for them (maybe not for me as a passenger) that they do things like Airpolonia does...
They have their prices, and they almost don't change untill 1-2 weeks before departure...
@ThomasCook:
Can you tell me some more about this Polishwings? I never heard about these plans....
False allarm? Wizz Air Secures 25 million Euro Financing
Below is the statement that apperead today on Wizzair's website.
So it seems they finally have some money and Skyeurope is lying.
Who should we believe? Wizzair or Skyeurope?
Is may be Sykeurope the airline really facing difficulties?
We should not forget that Skyeurope seems to be cancelling from next January its flight from Bergamo/Milan to Warsaw. Strange... They had just launched it a few months ago. But they've kept their flight from Bergamo to Krakow, where they are competing head to head with Wizzair (Wizz is flying to Katowice). Very strange! Why didn't they pull out of Krakow and concentrate on Warsaw? I personally think there IS enough of a market for a low cost carrier between Milan/Bergamo and Warsaw... But not for two between Krakow (and Katowice) and Milan.
Let's see...
Wizz Air Secures 25 million Euro Financing
Published:2004. 12. 03.
Wizz Air Limited, the European low fare airline, announced today the completion of a term sheet for a 25 million Euro financing with a group of investors lead by Indigo Partners LLC and including certain of Wizz’s existing shareholders. The transaction will significantly strengthen Wizz Air’s financial position, substantially improve the Airline’s competitive position in its key markets and provide a foundation for further expansion of its operations.
The commitments by Indigo Partners and Wizz Air's existing shareholders is closely linked to an agreement in principle – being negotiated - with debis AirFinance, Europe's leading aircraft lessor and Lufthansa Technik, the world's leading maintenance provider, that both companies will support the liquidity platform of Wizz Air to secure future growth.
“We are very excited to announce this financing package,” said Jozsef Varadi, Wizz Air’s chief executive officer. “We are confident that the financial support provided by this arrangement will firmly establish Wizz Air as the low fare airline of choice in Central and Eastern Europe. I want to thank our friends at Indigo Partners, our existing shareholders, our employees and the other investors that are participating in these arrangements for continuing to demonstrate confidence in the Wizz Air team and business model.”
“This financing will immediately and dramatically tip the competitive balance in favor of Wizz Air,” said Bill Franke, managing partner of Indigo Partners. “And the financing couldn’t come at a more opportune time, with Holiday and Spring time travel to support the expansion of a well financed Wizz Air. Life for other airlines in Eastern Europe just got a lot tougher and we are looking to the future with a great deal of anticipation.”
Franke added: “With any luck, our announcement should also put an end to the juvenile behavior of the marketing departments at certain of our competitors. Wizz Air is well able to compete where it counts, in the sky.”
Wizz Air based in Katowice, Warsaw and Gdansk, Poland and Budapest, Hungary, started operation in May 2004 and has carried more than half a million passengers since then. Wizz Air has become the leading Central and Eastern European low cost airline, operating a young fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft with the lowest cost structure in the region.
Indigo Partners and its affiliate Indigo Pacific Partners are private equity firms which specialize in transportation investments. Indigo’s principals, Bill Franke and Steve Johnson, are experienced in the airline and airline finance sectors and, most recently, were founders of Tiger Airways, a low cost new entrant carrier based in Singapore.
debis AirFinance provides aircraft leasing to airlines and asset management services to third parties such as investors and banks. The company has a total owned and managed fleet of over 250 jets and turboprops (Boeing/ MDC, Airbus, Fokker, Dornier, ATR, DHC) leased to 80 airlines in 40 countries. debis AirFinance, headquartered at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, has a worldwide presence with offices in Shannon, Ireland and Fort Lauderdale, Florida/United States.
debis AirFinance is leasing Wizz Air’s initial fleet of 6 Airbus A320.
As a leading provider in the maintenance, repair and overhaul business for commercial and VIP airliners, Lufthansa Technik is serving more than 400 customers around the globe. The company’s service portfolio includes aircraft maintenance and overhaul as well as encompassing engine and component services. Highly involved in the development of new technologies on-board and advanced repair methods on-ground, Lufthansa Technik´s engineers take an important role in increasing passenger comfort and aircraft reliability. A network of 27 companies and more than 65 line maintenance stations worldwide form the Lufthansa Technik Group. With its strong commitment to the Eastern and Western European region, Lufthansa Technik has been partner in the aviation community for about five decades.
Lufthansa Technik provides full maintenance service for Wizz Air including line maintenance, engineering, component repair and base maintenance.
The transaction is expected to close in late December or early January.
An initial part of the financing has been already completed.[/b]
So it seems they finally have some money and Skyeurope is lying.
Who should we believe? Wizzair or Skyeurope?
Is may be Sykeurope the airline really facing difficulties?
We should not forget that Skyeurope seems to be cancelling from next January its flight from Bergamo/Milan to Warsaw. Strange... They had just launched it a few months ago. But they've kept their flight from Bergamo to Krakow, where they are competing head to head with Wizzair (Wizz is flying to Katowice). Very strange! Why didn't they pull out of Krakow and concentrate on Warsaw? I personally think there IS enough of a market for a low cost carrier between Milan/Bergamo and Warsaw... But not for two between Krakow (and Katowice) and Milan.
Let's see...
Wizz Air Secures 25 million Euro Financing
Published:2004. 12. 03.
Wizz Air Limited, the European low fare airline, announced today the completion of a term sheet for a 25 million Euro financing with a group of investors lead by Indigo Partners LLC and including certain of Wizz’s existing shareholders. The transaction will significantly strengthen Wizz Air’s financial position, substantially improve the Airline’s competitive position in its key markets and provide a foundation for further expansion of its operations.
The commitments by Indigo Partners and Wizz Air's existing shareholders is closely linked to an agreement in principle – being negotiated - with debis AirFinance, Europe's leading aircraft lessor and Lufthansa Technik, the world's leading maintenance provider, that both companies will support the liquidity platform of Wizz Air to secure future growth.
“We are very excited to announce this financing package,” said Jozsef Varadi, Wizz Air’s chief executive officer. “We are confident that the financial support provided by this arrangement will firmly establish Wizz Air as the low fare airline of choice in Central and Eastern Europe. I want to thank our friends at Indigo Partners, our existing shareholders, our employees and the other investors that are participating in these arrangements for continuing to demonstrate confidence in the Wizz Air team and business model.”
“This financing will immediately and dramatically tip the competitive balance in favor of Wizz Air,” said Bill Franke, managing partner of Indigo Partners. “And the financing couldn’t come at a more opportune time, with Holiday and Spring time travel to support the expansion of a well financed Wizz Air. Life for other airlines in Eastern Europe just got a lot tougher and we are looking to the future with a great deal of anticipation.”
Franke added: “With any luck, our announcement should also put an end to the juvenile behavior of the marketing departments at certain of our competitors. Wizz Air is well able to compete where it counts, in the sky.”
Wizz Air based in Katowice, Warsaw and Gdansk, Poland and Budapest, Hungary, started operation in May 2004 and has carried more than half a million passengers since then. Wizz Air has become the leading Central and Eastern European low cost airline, operating a young fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft with the lowest cost structure in the region.
Indigo Partners and its affiliate Indigo Pacific Partners are private equity firms which specialize in transportation investments. Indigo’s principals, Bill Franke and Steve Johnson, are experienced in the airline and airline finance sectors and, most recently, were founders of Tiger Airways, a low cost new entrant carrier based in Singapore.
debis AirFinance provides aircraft leasing to airlines and asset management services to third parties such as investors and banks. The company has a total owned and managed fleet of over 250 jets and turboprops (Boeing/ MDC, Airbus, Fokker, Dornier, ATR, DHC) leased to 80 airlines in 40 countries. debis AirFinance, headquartered at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, has a worldwide presence with offices in Shannon, Ireland and Fort Lauderdale, Florida/United States.
debis AirFinance is leasing Wizz Air’s initial fleet of 6 Airbus A320.
As a leading provider in the maintenance, repair and overhaul business for commercial and VIP airliners, Lufthansa Technik is serving more than 400 customers around the globe. The company’s service portfolio includes aircraft maintenance and overhaul as well as encompassing engine and component services. Highly involved in the development of new technologies on-board and advanced repair methods on-ground, Lufthansa Technik´s engineers take an important role in increasing passenger comfort and aircraft reliability. A network of 27 companies and more than 65 line maintenance stations worldwide form the Lufthansa Technik Group. With its strong commitment to the Eastern and Western European region, Lufthansa Technik has been partner in the aviation community for about five decades.
Lufthansa Technik provides full maintenance service for Wizz Air including line maintenance, engineering, component repair and base maintenance.
The transaction is expected to close in late December or early January.
An initial part of the financing has been already completed.[/b]
Sky cancelling
Sky also cancelling flights Warsaw-Budapest from 13 th December
I read it to...
hmmm i think this is just. And to be honest: i also don't know who to believe...
One thing's for sure: i don't think it was a good thing for SkyEurope to put that news on their frontpage... Everyone who reads this will also check out the news on WizzAir's page, and who will they believe? I think the company who's talking about itself, not about another one...
Anyway: does anyone have an idea if WizzAir will be flying to Brussels for their summer-schedule? They don't have it in their time-table yet....
hmmm i think this is just. And to be honest: i also don't know who to believe...
One thing's for sure: i don't think it was a good thing for SkyEurope to put that news on their frontpage... Everyone who reads this will also check out the news on WizzAir's page, and who will they believe? I think the company who's talking about itself, not about another one...
Anyway: does anyone have an idea if WizzAir will be flying to Brussels for their summer-schedule? They don't have it in their time-table yet....
Re: Sky cancelling
Source?szyszek wrote:Sky also cancelling flights Warsaw-Budapest from 13 th December
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Ozzie1969
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Re: Sky cancelling
I think SkyEurope simply tried to put Wizzair into a negative light of day with this statement about their "concern". Some people might be put off booking a flight on Wizzair now, and might book on SkyEurope instead. In any case, there is no way any airline would be "concerned" about the financial situation of one of their competitors.
Re: Sky cancelling
Though i don't like your avatorOzzie1969 wrote:I think SkyEurope simply tried to put Wizzair into a negative light of day with this statement about their "concern". Some people might be put off booking a flight on Wizzair now, and might book on SkyEurope instead. In any case, there is no way any airline would be "concerned" about the financial situation of one of their competitors.
, you're totaly right ! -
Ozzie1969
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Re: Sky cancelling
It's called an "avatar"...Sentike wrote:Though i don't like your avatorOzzie1969 wrote:I think SkyEurope simply tried to put Wizzair into a negative light of day with this statement about their "concern". Some people might be put off booking a flight on Wizzair now, and might book on SkyEurope instead. In any case, there is no way any airline would be "concerned" about the financial situation of one of their competitors.
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Humberside
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SicilianFalcon
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- Joined: 11 Oct 2004, 00:00
SkyEurope is correct, Wizz needs $40 million and got only $3 million up to now like it seems. This makes a total of $28 million which also means they are still $12 million short. Even the aiport still needed money from them and warned them if they should not pay the "gate" is closed for them. Somehow they did pay some amount which let them departure. Inside information backs up this story, sad but true. They get a lot of problems also because of EZY and RYR that both started targeting east europe. When those two really hit the east european market Wizzair will be history soon.
Greetz,
Erwin
Greetz,
Erwin
A Whole Different Animal