Wizz Air To Retain All 11 Airbus A321XLRs

Wizz Air has changed its mind on the Airbus A321XLR and will keep all eleven aircraft on order for its own operations instead of transferring some to partner airlines. The carrier said today that it has “discontinued discussions with partners to transfer remaining A321XLR aircraft to other operators and plans to ultimately use all 11x aircraft on longer range routes within its network.”

The Eastern European carrier had previously indicated that it no longer needed the A321XLR

after it discontinued operations of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi last September. It trimmed orders from 47 to 11 and operated the XLR on regular A321neo routes, where they are more efficient than the A321ceo but less efficient than the standard neo. CCO Ian Malin recently said that the A321XLR “didn’t fit with our business model”.

Today, CEO Jozsef Varadi said that “as such, the XLR network is over”, but added that the type offers operational flexibility on some routes and will therefore have a role to play. He repeated that the aircraft is much more efficient than the A321ceos, which will be retired by the financial year 2029. Currently, Wizz has seven XLRs, but the last four on order will be delivered this financial year 2027, which started in April. After the orderbook reset in November with 88 deferrals, the fleet will grow to 335 aircraft in FY30. Wizz announced this week that it has selected Starlink for in-flight connectivity from 2027, but this service will not be free. The carrier plans to offer new retail concepts to maximise ancillaries.