Central European budget carrier Wizz Air is slashing its Airbus A321XLR commitment to just 11 aircraft, and pushing back the delivery schedule for 88 jets by three years.
The airline has been holding discussions on its fleet deliveries after the decision to axe its Abu Dhabi operation – for which a number of XLRs had been intended – and slow its broader growth rate.
Wizz Air had ordered 47 of the long-range A321XLRs but is converting 36 of them to regular A321neos.
Five of the 11 XLRs which remain on its backlog have already been delivered to the carrier.
Wizz Air is aiming to transition to an all-A320neo-family fleet by 2029.
It stresses that its commitment to take its outstanding backlog of 273 Airbus aircraft “remains intact”.
But it is looking to moderate its capacity expansion, and will push back deliveries of 88 aircraft originally scheduled to arrive by fiscal 2030.
These aircraft will instead be delivered by fiscal 2033, the airline says.
“These amendments support the airline’s target of achieving a 10-12% seat capacity growth rate through 2030,” states Wizz.
It adds that the revision puts the airline on a “more sustainable and profitable capacity growth trajectory”.
