"Whenever we come up against Wizz, we tend to have significantly lower fares and have much lower costs," he said.
As an example of the strategy, he cited Albania, where Ryanair plans to open 25 new routes this winter to take on Wizz (WIZZ.L) in its eastern European heartland.
According to data analysis firm IBA, low-cost carriers have over 59% of the aviation market in Poland, up from 31% in 2021.
He added that Buzz and Ryanair were mainly focused on regional airports, like Modlin outside Warsaw or Katowice near Krakow.
Poland and eastern Europe's lighter regulatory requirements, lower environmental scrutiny and poor rail connections make them appealing markets by comparison.
Persons:
Wizz, Michael O'Leary, Jozsef Varadi, Varadi, Jamie Lindsay, Michal Kaczmarzyk, Buzz, Dan Taylor, Kaczmarzyk, O'Leary, Tim Hepher, Mark Potter
Organizations:
Ryanair, WARSAW, Wizz Air, Reuters, Wizz, Artemis Investment, LLP, Chopin, IBA Insight, Thomson
Locations:
Poland, PRAGUE, Europe, Ireland, Italy, Albania, Hungary, Warsaw, Modlin, Katowice, Krakow, Polish, France, Ukraine, Poland's