Budget carrier Wizz Air has revived plans to float on the stock market after abandoning the idea last summer because of volatility in the airline industry.
The no-frills airline, which hopes to be second-time lucky, has announced plans to raise €150m (£113m) by listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange by the end of March.
József Váradi, chief executive, said the Hungarian company had plenty of growth potential because there was still a lot of untapped opportunity in Europe.
He added: “Our low fares offer many consumers throughout central and eastern Europe access to low-cost air travel for the first time and we operate in many markets where low-cost airline penetration is low with significant potential for growth.
“A combination of deregulation, above average GDP growth, a growing middle class and supportive migration trends in an area with a large population is expected to drive higher propensity to air travel and higher low-cost carrier penetration.”
Wizz was established in 2003 and operates a fleet of 54 Airbus A320 aircraft, offering all-economy flights mainly from secondary airports that typically charge lower fees.
In the UK it flies from Luton, Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, Belfast, Aberdeen and Doncaster/Sheffield. It flies to 106 destinations and carried 15.8 million passengers in 2014, 17% more than a year earlier.
Revenue increased 18.9% to €1bn in Wizz’s 2014 financial year.
