Wizz Air becomes the latest European airline to slash its summer flight schedule to cope with the industry's chronic labor shortage

• Wizz Air announced in a trading update that it is cutting 5% of its scheduled summer flights.
• The decision aims to limit travel disruption, which is an ongoing problem for the airline industry.

Low-cost European carrier Wizz Air is the latest airline to announce a reduction in summer flights to cope with ongoing travel disruption.

The company said in a first-quarter trading update on Monday that it was cutting 5% of its summer schedule to "reduce the impact of ongoing external disruptions."

Last month, UK lawmakers and an aviation regulator ordered airlines to bring an end to a wave of last-minute cancellations after the sector struggled to meet the soaring demand for flights.

Wizz Air's decision to cut its summer timetable follows British Airways' announcement that it was cancelling 10,300 short-haul flights, which represented about 13% of its total summer schedule.

Scandinavian airline SAS also cancelled 51% of its scheduled flights this month and later filed for bankruptcy in the US on July 5 after a pilot strike over pay crippled the company's operations.

London-listed Wizz Air said in the trading update that it was set to report an operating loss of 285 million euros ($289 million) for the first quarter. It cited unrealized foreign currency exchange losses, ongoing travel disruptions, and lower utilization throughout the quarter.

Shares in Wizz Air fell 4.6% in London trading on Monday, according to Bloomberg, with the airline's stock declining around 58% so far this year.

Wizz Air said in its trading update that it expects to post a "material operational" profit in its second quarter, following an increase in commercial flight ticket prices.