Central European budget airline Wizz Air has been holding important discussions on engine contingency and maintenance as part of a selective bid for a power plant covering nearly 180 aircraft.
The airline says negotiations related to increased access to additional engineering shop visit slots and spare engines will end by the end of June.
According to Wizz Air, the 177 Airbus A321Neos engine bid covers “critical considerations” for powerplant support.
The carrier still experiences considerable confusion as a result of the treatment work of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G Geared Turbofans.
By the end of September this year, we expect that around 34 aircraft will remain based on engine issues.
Wizz said its full-year financial briefing from 2024-25 was on a downward trend from the age of 42 at the end of March to the age of 37 at the beginning of May, but its operating profit sank by more than 60% to 167.5 million euros ($191 million).
“Despite the unproductivity of the grounded fleet, we successfully delivered profitability for the second year in a row,” says CEO Jozsef Varadi.
“The number of grounded aircraft starts to decrease in both absolute and relative terms. This is why we reached the conversion point.”
The airline says it experienced a “significant challenge” between 2024 and 25, with an average of 44 aircraft parked. This represents almost 20% of the fleet.
However, he said improved use of operational aircraft and the use of wet leases allowed carriers to keep capacity flat.
For the year, Wizz received 26 new A321neos and 14 spare engines, allowing them to “mitigate some of the impact.”
Wizz assumes that the average shop time is 300 days to get the engine back into service.
However, as the number of grounded aircraft decreases and the carriers expand with Airbus delivery, the proportion of the fleet has declined.
Wiz says the Airbus delivery schedule for the 138 A321NEOS, which was delivered over the next three years, was revised in January. Delivery will result in the fleet falling from a forecast of 380 in March 2028, expanding from 231 to 305.
