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 Joszef 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. By the end of calendar year 2027, Wizz Air is confident that it will have no more grounded aircraft for engine powder metal repairs. The number of AOGs without Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofans came down from 42 in March last year to 30 at the end of this March. Last week, this was down to 24, and it should get to 15 to 20 by March next year. The 2027 target is conditional on P&W meeting the engine repair schedule. At the end of 2026, Wizz Air will receive the first A321neo with the improved GTF Advantage, which should significantly enhance durability and time on wing. FY26 results Wizz Air made its comments today at the earnings presentation of the FY26 results. The airline reported a net profit of €1.3 million versus €213 million in FY25. Revenues grew to €5.7 billion from €5.3 billion, of which €3.2 billion was from tickets and €2.5 billion from ancillary revenues. Wizz carried 69.7 million passengers at a 90.7 percent load factor compared to 63.4 million and 91.2 percent last year. Unit revenues/RASKs were down by 0.4 percent. Expenses were up to €5.6 billion from €5.1 billion, mainly due to higher airport handling charges, maintenance costs, and depreciation costs for retiring A321ceos, offset by lower disruption costs. Carbon offsetting costs under the EU/UK ETS schemes and CORSIA grew 27.2 percent to €273.3 million. This impacted the operating profit, which was €139.7 million versus €167.5 million last year. Profit before tax was €27 million, up from €19.7 million. EBITDA was up 16.2 percent to 1.3 billion at a margin of 23.2 percent, and free cash flow ended at €964 million. After repaying a €500 million bond in January, net cash stood at €2.1 billion and net debt at €4.9 billion. Capacity After two years of almost no growth due to the aircraft groundings, Wizz Air grew ASK capacity again last year by 8.5 percent. Seat capacity was up by 10.5 percent. This trend has continued this Q1 of FY27, with ASKs up by 15 percent and getting to 20 percent in Q2 year-over-year. Medium-term ASK growth is 10 to 12 percent. Seat capacity was up 25 percent in Q1 and will get to 27 percent this summer. The Iran conflict has delayed capacity growth for HY2 from November until summer next year, when grounded aircraft return to service. The extent of the growth will be carefully considered and will depend on market demand at the time. Growth comes from Wizz Air’s core market in Central Eastern Europe. It opened eight new bases in the CEE last year and eyes densification at other core bases, with more aircraft deployed at London Luton, Rome Fiumicino, Tirana and Warsaw. Italy sees significant growth and gets a seventh base by the end of October. The Vienna base was closed at the end of March, which fits the review of operations at high-cost airports. Varadi said: “As we move into the next financial year, our priorities are clear. We will continue to focus on our core markets, restore full fleet utilisation as engine availability improves, maintain discipline in capacity growth and cost control, and further enhance the reliability and quality of our operations. In F27, we will continue to invest in our fleet, our people and our commercial capabilities to support the long-term growth of Wizz Air.” No guidance Given the uncertain geopolitical situation and the fluctuating but high oil and fuel prices, Wizz Air is unable to give any financial guidance for FY27. The airline has expected an €50 million impact on earnings in March from the Iran conflict, but this was largely mitigated by fuel hedges placed before the war started. For the first six months of FY27 until October, Wizz Air has hedged fuel at 84 percent and 71 percent for HY2 at a cap of $826 per metric tonne. FY28 is currently hedged at 18 percent. Ex-fuel CASK for HY1 are guided at flat to low single-digits. CCO Ian Malin said that bookings have started to normalise again, meaning that customers are starting to book earlier. They did in January and February, but the Iran war changed that trend to late bookings in April. In May and until now in June, this trend seems to have reversed.

US Flight Planner	Airbus vs Boeing
US Airline Schedule Performance	Daily Production & Deliveries

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Related News

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Related News

El Al wet leases A320s

Have Engine OEMs Got The Message in Rio?

SpiceJet Dry-Leasing A320ceos To Meet Demand