Wizz Air has negotiated a reduced aircraft delivery schedule through to 2030, as it aims to achieve a “smooth” growth rate amid considerations such as airframer delays and the continued grounding of around 20% of its fleet.
Releasing its fiscal third quarter earnings on 30 January, the European low-cost carrier said that following the signing of a revised agreement with Airbus earlier this month, it is now projecting a fleet size of 305 at the end of fiscal year 2028, versus a previously contracted level of 380. The gap narrows by fiscal year 2030, when it now projects a fleet size of 424, versus 451.
At the peak of the deferrals in 2028, the airline will be 53 Airbus A321neos and 22 A321XLRs short of its previously contracted delivery schedule.
The issues driving that change, explains chief executive Jozsef Varadi during an earnings call, include “slipping” delivery timelines from Airbus, which had already prompted it to plan for delivery levels below those contractually agreed, amid industry-wide supply-chain challenges. The other major driver is the grounding of its Airbus A320neo family aircraft for inspections of their Pratt & Whitney PW1100G powerplants. Varadi says the latter issue means an average of around 40 of its aircraft will be grounded in the fiscal year beginning 1 April 2025, out of the 230 jets that it expects to start the year with.
The groundings have peaked and will ramp down over a two-year period, Varadi states, meaning the airline is having to plan for the integration of dozens of jets into its network, even before fresh deliveries are considered.
“We definitely wanted to avoid kind of the roller-coaster effect on capacity that one day we grow nothing and the other day we grow 30%, 40%, 50%,” he says.
By reducing deliveries of new aircraft, ”when you add the uplifted capacity from the groundings, actually that will smooth the CAGR [compound annual growth rate]… of the company at a level of around 15% to 20%”, he says, which is in line with Wizz’s previously stated strategic preference.
Moreover, Wizz believes that it is returning to growth at a time of “muted” expansion among rivals.
Wizz reported a deeper €241 million ($251 million) net loss for the three months to 31 December 2024, on revenues up 11% at €1.2 billion. It made an operating loss of €75.9 mllion, versus a loss of €180 million a year earlier.
Amid the grounding challenges, its capacity fell by 1.7% year on year during the quarter, although passenger numbers ticked up by 2.6%.
While a few A320 and A320neo aircraft might remain in its fleet by that point, Wizz is on course to “effectively” be an all-A321neo/XLR operator in five to six years’ time, Varadi says.
