Wizz Air offers UK pilots voluntary redundancy, union says

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Wizz Air has offered voluntary redundancy to some pilots at London's Luton airport, its primary UK base, an association representing British pilots said on Friday.

Hungarian budget carrier Wizz cut its winter capacity by 5% last month in a bid to offset high jet fuel prices triggered by the Iran war, even as its hedging policy and liquidity place it among the better positioned airlines.

"BALPA is supporting and advising its members on the offer that has been made", the British Airline Pilots' Association said in an e-mailed statement, confirming a Bloomberg News report that Wizz had offered expressions of interest for first officers at Luton to leave on voluntary enhanced terms.

BALPA said its UK pilots would "welcome constructive dialogue" with Wizz, which at its most recent capital markets day event said it employs a total of 2,650 pilots.

Wizz did not respond to a request for comment on BALPA's statement.

Latvian carrier airBaltic filed for bankruptcy in September, in a sign that smaller airlines were at risk of collapse from a sector-wide crisis resulting from the Iran conflict.

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi and Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Alexander Smith)