Almost three million passengers took a Wizz Air flight in July as the airline gears up to operate a near full program in August.

The airline reported carryings of 2.9m, up 62% from last July. Capacity climbed 25% to 3.7m seats.

The figures came as the airline said it will operate 90% of its pre-COVID capacity in August. It claimed to be the first European airline to return to a such levels.

Despite an encouraging picture compared to 2020, the rolling 12-month period continues to show sharp declines in traffic.

In the year to the end of July 2021, passenger numbers fell to 13.5m, more than 50% below the 28.3m in the previous corresponding period.