Wizz Air defers 88 Airbus A320neo family orders, converts A321XLR commitments

Wizz Air, the European low-cost airline, announced on November 7, 2025, that it had agreed with Airbus to reconfigure its commitment for new aircraft in the coming years. The agreement will see the adjustment of the carrier’s fleet through the deferral of deliveries for 88 new aircraft and a significant reduction in its future commitment to the A321XLR.

Although the company’s outstanding orderbook of 273 Airbus aircraft remains the same in terms of size, the shift highlights a wider realignment in the airline’s focus as the carrier attempts to keep up with European low-cost rivals Ryanair and easyJet.

According to a statement from Wizz Air, the adjustment defers 88 A320neo family deliveries originally scheduled for completion by fiscal year 2030. These aircraft will now be delivered in the period ending in fiscal year 2033. The company framed this decision as a move to align its delivery schedule with “a more sustainable and profitable capacity growth trajectory.”

Markus Mainka / ShutterstockBy pushing these deliveries back to FY2033, Wizz Air aims to cap its annual seat capacity growth at 10% to 12% through the rest of the 2020s. Analysts have said that this will be a more measured pace compared to the 15% to 20% growth surges of previous years, which many said were unsustainable.

Shifting strategy

This change in the Airbus delivery schedule comes as the carrier undergoes a period of major alignment. Additionally, Wizz Air has been plagued by maintenance issues affecting the Pratt &Whitney GTF engines that power its newer A320 family models. The engine crisis, which began in 2023, has cost Wizz Air hundreds of millions in compensation and lost revenue, although the airline has said that the crisis should largely be resolved by the end of 2026.

In addition to the deferral of 88 orders, the agreement sees the reduction in Wizz Air’s commitment for the groundbreaking A321XLR (Extra Long Range), for which Wizz Air was the world’s third operator.

The company is reducing its commitment to the type from 47 aircraft to just 11 planes. This much-reduced figure includes the five aircraft that have already been delivered to the airline, the first of which arrived in May 2025. However, the 36 A321XLR aircraft that are no longer required are not cancelled outright as the order positions are being converted into an order for 36 standard A321neos, of which the company already operates 94 of the type.  

High fuel prices, crew costs, and soft demand for premium-light long-haul proved insurmountable for Wizz Air, “ said CEO Josef Váradi during the airline’s recent Q2 earnings call. “We learned that ultra-long-haul on narrowbodies is a niche too far for our cost base,” he added.

AirbusThis reduction in the extra-long-range variant coincides with the recent closure of the airline’s Abu Dhabi subsidiary, which was projected to be one of the main operators of this model for longer routes. Additionally, the company has also more recently announced the closure of its Vienna base, although the effect of the latter has partially been offset by the expansion of other bases in Eastern Europe, notably Bratislava and Yerevan.

Both ventures that have closed relied heavily on the XLR’s 4,700-nautical-mile range capabilities to connect secondary European cities with leisure and VFR markets in the Gulf and beyond. With such markets failing to take off as the airline had hoped, its strategy for the XLR has shifted away from this model.

Scaling back annual growth rates

Overall, the moves to reshuffle its orderbook signal a strategic shift away from the aggressive expansion plans of the past toward a balanced and more profitable model for the carrier as it tries to steady the ship going forward. In July 2025, Wizz Air reported a roughly 38% decrease in operating profit in the first quarter of the 2026 financial year, citing increased costs and the GTF engine-related groundings. 

In its unaudited financial results, released on July 24, 2025, the airline announced that its operating profit fell to €27.5 million in Q1 FY26, down from €44.6 million during the same time the previous year. The airline attributed this decrease to higher airport, handling, and en-route charges, depreciation costs, and the GTF engine-related groundings. 

Wizz AirDeferring deliveries eases the short-term pressure on the carrier’s balance sheet while also maintaining flexibility for a rebound in capacity once the GTF groundings are over. The company also reaffirmed its goal of operating an all-NEO fleet (composed entirely of New Engine Option aircraft) by the 2029 calendar year, with the gradual withdrawal of all its remaining earlier-generation A320ceos. This will allow Wizz Air to achieve a 100% NEO-generation fleet two years ahead of what was originally planned.

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