Wizz Air CEO says ready for IPO when markets pick up

(Adds further CEO comments, background)

By Sarah Young

LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Eastern European low cost carrier Wizz Air will be ready to make another attempt at an initial public offering (IPO) when the market improves, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

Wizz postponed plans to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in June, with sources saying it was not able to get the valuation it wanted.

"We found the market quite volatile and quite turbulent going through the process," chief executive Jozsef Varadi told a travel conference in London.

"We stand ready to look at the market again when we think the market is in good shape for an IPO," he said, without being specific on timing.

Market turbulence over the last couple of months has seen a number of IPOs delayed, although Virgin Money said on Tuesday it would go ahead with a postponed listing.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Europe's two low cost airlines, Ryanair, and easyJet , have both upgraded their annual profit forecasts in the last month, in a show of strength at a time when more traditional carriers like Air France-KLM (Other OTC: AFLYY - news) and Lufthansa are struggling.

In what is becoming an even more competitive market, as the traditional carriers try to expand the presence of their own low-cost offerings, Varadi said that Wizz's greater exposure to central and eastern Europe gave it an advantage over rivals.

In those geographies, fewer people tend to fly for their holidays or for business, choosing alternative modes of transport, and enabling Wizz to stimulate demand.

"We are focused on markets that are far more premature in their current stage," he said.

"We know what price we need to stimulate the market."

Describing Wizz and Ryanair as "ultra" low cost carriers, Varadi said that Ryanair's position in more developed markets meant it was turning its back on some of its original ultra low cost practises to try to attract new sorts of passengers, such as business travellers.

"You can say that Ryanair is somewhat diverting from those disciplines nowadays," Varadi said.

The Irish airline's move to introduce allocated seating, allow people more than one bag and fly from more convenient but expensive airports, however, seems to be working for it. It raised its annual profit forecast almost 20 percent on Monday.

New planes Wizz has on order will also strengthen its ability to compete. The airline is bringing in 26 Airbus A321 aircraft with 230 seats, compared to the 189 seats on a typical Ryanair Boeing 737 flight.

"I think that will be a game changer in the European low cost industry, that creates a different level of efficiency," Varadi said. (Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Mark Potter and Michael Urquhart)