The Hungary-based low-cost airline saw traffic rise to 4.7 million in the final three months of 2015, compared to 3.8 million for the same period in 2014.

This helped the carrier to increase operating profit from €10 million to €21.5 million for the quarter year-on-year, as revenue jumped up by 17.3% to €310.5 million.

These results and “encouraging” forward bookings for the current quarter have led Wizz to upgrade its profits forecast for its current financial year to a post-tax profit of between €200 million and €210 million.

This came despite a 4.8% fall in average revenue per passenger to €65.57 “as lower fuel prices feed through to lower airfares”.

Wizz added 19 routes during the quarter including new services to Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Serbia – taking its network to more than 400 routes.

Chief executive Jozsef Varadi said the results “reaffirms the opportunity we see in central and eastern Europe”.

“The third quarter also saw a number of key milestones for Wizz Air as we position ourselves for further growth,” added Varadi. “We took delivery of our first two A321ceo aircraft and completed the order for 110 Airbus A321neo aircraft.”