Flying low
Airline AGM turnout and Wizz Air significant votes revisited
Today’s post is just a quick update on shareholder voting at UK-listed airlines.
First up, turnout. Just a reminder - there is a Brexit-shaped hole in turnout at these companies because they have to comply with the EU ownership and control rules. EU shareholders must account for 50%+ of the exercisable voting rights. This has meant that some non-EU investors have been disenfranchised to ensure the companies stay on the right side of the threshold.
Here’s the updated chart based on 2025 AGMs - no data for TUI as it has now delisted from the UK. (While it was here it was a UK-listed company with co-determination!)
Overall there was a slight improvement in turnout across the board in 2025, led by IAG (which was the only company to break 50% last year). easyJet has already had its 2026 AGM and its turnout was very marginally down on 2025.
Secondly, I also had a quick look at governance nerd favourite Wizz Air. I’ve been tracking how many 10%+ oppose votes it receives at each AGM and last year it was down to just two, which is a bit boring.
That said there was a 27%+ vote against its remuneration report. Wizz has had a 20%+ vote against (classed as ‘significant’ under the UK Corporate Governance Code) against either its remuneration report or its remuneration policy or against a share scheme resolution pretty much every year since the start of the decade. It was just under 20% in 2022, but stormed back in 2023 when it managed a triple!
So it was nice to see them maintain the tradition in 2025.
I went to look up all the votes against Wizz Air on the Investment Association’s public register and noticed that the 2025 AGM does not appear. That’s because the register is not being updated because it has been decided that easy access to this information would be BAD FOR GROWTH.
You can still see short positions in Wizz Air above 0.5% through the FCA’s reporting. Wizz is currently the most shorted UK stock and just those positions the FCA reports are over 15% (there will likely be more under the 0.5% threshold).
However, access to this information has also been classified as BAD FOR GROWTH so we won’t be allowed to see it in the future. Enjoy it while you can.