Wizz Air sees delivery delays after Airbus cuts targets, CEO says

By Joanna Plucinska

LONDON (Reuters) - Wizz Air expects further delays in deliveries of Airbus 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 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 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.

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Wizz's bigger rival Ryanair 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)