Wizz Air sees delivery delays after Airbus cuts targets, CEO says
By Joanna Plucinska
LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) -Wizz Air WIZZ.L expects further delays in deliveries of Airbus AIR.PA planes, but the budget carrier remains confident it can increase its capacity over the next few years, its Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi told Reuters.
The low-cost airline, which flies an all-Airbus fleet, has already faced challenges related to Pratt and Whitney RTX RTX.N engines, with 45 of its planes set to be grounded this summer over inspections and 35 next summer, placing constraints on its capacity.
The European plane maker cut its targets last month as it faces ongoing supply disruptions.
But Varadi said that additional Airbus delivery delays will not have a substantial negative impact on the airline's capacity.
"We are making assumptions that Airbus will have delivery delays, but they already have six-month delivery delays," he told Reuters in an interview in London.
"The real impact (...) will be fairly limited," Varadi said in remarks agreed for publication on Tuesday.
He said the airline is still expecting continuous deliveries of about three aircraft a month, with 20% growth in capacity next year and 20-25% the following year.
The aviation sector has struggled with delays from plane manufacturers Boeing BA.N and Airbus in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, with Boeing's constraints more pronounced given ongoing concerns over safety at the U.S. planemaker.
SECTOR STRUGGLES
Wizz's bigger rival Ryanair RYA.I was forced to cut some routes this summer as a result of Boeing delivery delays caused by additional regulatory scrutiny following a door blowout.
Greater scrutiny by the U.S. Federal Aviation Admistration (FAA) of Boeing is likely to spill over on Europe's aviation regulator, EASA, Varadi said.
"For everyone, the regulatory environment is going to be more difficult with more scrutiny, which will slow down the process," he said about inspection approvals.
However, it is still unclear if all of the new Airbus planes on order will carry RTX engines or CFM ones as Wizz Air continues to weigh the choice of its engine supplier.
Wizz Air expects to make a decision in the next year or so, Varadi said.
Reporting by Joanna Plucinska
Editing by Tomasz Janowski
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
