LONDON (Reuters] -Hungary’s carrier Wizz Air reported a third quarter operating loss of 213.6 millions euros. It said that the fourth quarter loss would likely be higher, before an improvement in spring. Wizz stated that Omicron had impacted demand during the last part of third quarter and was expected to continue being impacted by travel uncertainty throughout January, February, and parts of March.

Jozsef Varradi, CEO of Wizz Air, told Reuters that there had been a significant increase in British demand for the airline after the relaxation in coronavirus testing regulations. He also said that he expects the UK to lead the recovery this summer.

To capitalize on an anticipated recovery in the summer, this fast-growing airline used the pandemic as an opportunity to reduce costs and to acquire more landing slots. At December’s end, it had liquidity in excess of 1.4 billion Euros.

Varadi stated that it would operate half the capacity during August and September than the summer 2019 prior to the pandemic.

He stated that he has been investing in his network, markets and fleet to ensure we not only recover from COVID but also take advantage of the opportunity to grow the company once it resumes.

“We expect strong demand recovery in the next few weeks.”

A note of caution was added by he that fuel costs, wage and regulatory change inputs were increasing, driving fare prices higher in the short-term.