Central European budget carrier Wizz Air is to cancel orders for 10 Airbus A320s as part of its agreement to take 110 A321neos.
At the time of the agreement, disclosed at the Paris air show, the airline still had deliveries of 51 aircraft – comprising 24 A320s and 27 A321s – outstanding.
But Wizz states that it will cancel 10 A320s which were due to arrive in 2018. Deliveries of the remaining 41 jets will take place over the next three years.
Wizz has yet to finalise the deal for the A321neos, due for delivery from 2019. It says it has options to convert some of the aircraft to the smaller A320neo.
Shareholders of the carrier need to approve the agreement – worth $12.5 billion at catalogue prices – before it can be converted to a firm order.
Wizz is an all-Airbus operator but points out that it chose the A321neo after a “competitive selection process”.
Chief executive Jozsef Varadi says the airline “looked at different options” but that Airbus offered the best combination of aircraft, efficiency, support and pricing.
Its A321neo fleet will be fitted with 239 seats, just shy of the 240 limit which Airbus has developed following a rejig of the exit configuration and interior cabin on the A321 airframe.
Wizz Air is already planning to take a higher-density 230-seat version of the baseline A321 when it introduces the type later this year.
Boeing has been developing its own higher-density configuration for the 737 Max, designated the Max 200, which has been selected by Ryanair. The Irish budget airline is to configure the aircraft with 197 seats.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
