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Wizz Air has cut its annual profit forecast as the low-cost carrier is hit by an “unprecedented operational challenge” and geopolitical uncertainty.  The London-listed airline on Thursday said it would be forced to ground 45 of its roughly 200 planes because of potential problems with their Pratt & Whitney engines. József Váradi, CE, said the company expected to be compensated by the engine maker for its direct financial losses, but was facing an “unprecedented operational challenge” that could last 18 months as the engines are removed for inspections amid concerns over contaminants in the powdered metal used to make the turbofan engines. “I don’t think the industry has ever gone through this,” he said. “This is new territory. But we think we are ready for it. We will be covered for the financial losses but we have to still protect capacity and remain intact as a competing force.” Wizz has tried to contain the worst impact of the groundings by using its remaining aircraft more intensively and extending leases, while it has also continued to take deliveries of new Airbus planes. But the engine problems will hit the airline’s ambitious growth plans, with flight schedules in the year beginning March 2024 forecast to be “at similar levels” to the current year. “While the group is offsetting the headwind as best it can . . . it is not enough to maintain expansion, and a lower number of operating aircraft will mean numbers have to come down,” said analysts at Bernstein. Wizz said it expected to report a net profit for the current financial year of between E350m and E400m, down from guidance in June of E350m to E450m.  Other airlines have also faced supply chain problems, including delays in the deliveries of new aircraft. Ryanair, Wizz’s rival in the European low-cost market, has said it is concerned its summer season next year could be hit by delays in receiving new aircraft from Boeing. Váradi said the narrowed guidance was also down to geopolitical uncertainty and war in the Middle East. Wizz has suspended flights to Israel, which account for 5-6% of its flight schedules, and reported a slowdown in sales to neighbouring countries.<br/>

Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot said on Thursday it had clinched a settlement with leasing company BOC Aviation under which nine aircraft are to be handed over to Russian state insurance company NSK. A statement issued by Aeroflot said NSK would settle the claim pursued by BOC Aviation. The airline gave no further details and there was no immediate comment from the leasing company. Singapore-based BOC Aviation began legal action in November 2022 in Dublin in pursuit of claims against 16 insurers over aircraft the lessor owned that have been stuck in Russia, an Irish High Court filing shows. The Aeroflot statement said BOC Aviation would abandon its legal claims with respect to the aircraft. Eight of the aircraft were owned by BOC and one was managed by the company. The statement said Aeroflot would continue its discussions with leasing operators to settle claims concerning foreign-manufactured aircraft.<br/>

Emirates Group posted its highest-ever fiscal half-year earnings, reporting net profit of 10.1b dirhams ($2.75b) for 2023-24 on rebounding demand. The figure eclipsed its half-year profit of the previous year — 4.2b dirhams — by 138%. The earnings beat was driven by strong demand for international travel, as the industry continues its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Group revenue was 67.3b dirhams, up 20% from the previous year’s six-month revenue figure. Emirates Group, the state-owned Dubai-based holding company of which Emirates Airline is a subsidiary, also reported a figure for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 20.6b dirhams, up from 15.3b dirhams in the same period last year. It reported its cash position at 42.7b dirhams. “The Group has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including debt payments,” the company’s earnings statement said, adding that Emirates has reimbursed 9.2b dirhams of its Covid-19 related loans and the group has paid 4.5b dirhams in dividend to its owner, which was declared at the end of the 2022-23 financial year. Emirates Airline and Group Chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum said in an accompanying statement: “We are seeing the fruition of our plans to return stronger and better from the dark days of the pandemic. The Group has surpassed previous records to report our best-ever half-year performance.” He added that the group’s profit for the first six months of the 2023-2024 financial year has “nearly matched our record full year profit in 2022-23.”<br/>

Lenders of grounded Indian airline Go First plan to legally challenge the aviation watchdog's interpretation to retrospectively apply changes to bankruptcy law that could allow lessors to reclaim planes, according to four people with direct knowledge. India last month tweaked its laws to exclude leased aircraft from assets that are frozen during bankruptcy proceedings. With lessors of Go First up in arms about not managing to get their planes back, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, in a court filing, said the law changes will apply restrospectively, indicating relief for the lessors. But lenders of Go, to whom the airline owes $783m, fear the value of the grounded airline will deteriorate further if planes are released, diminishing interest from potential bidders and putting recovery of their funds at risk, the sources said. They plan to tell a Delhi High Court judge the bankruptcy law changes should apply prospectively, not retrospectively, since Go was already under bankruptcy protection when the law was amended, the sources said. "Without the planes, the value of the airline will deteriorate. The amended law seems to have deterred bidders already," said one banker at a state-run bank with exposure to the airline. The Delhi court is set to hear the ongoing dispute between lessors and Go First next on Friday. The lenders' plea, if allowed by court, would be a setback for lessors and mean more than 50 Airbus planes of Go First would continue to be grounded in India.<br/>

Singapore Airlines low-cost subsidiary Scoot is considering extending the lease of some Airbus A320ceo aircraft due to problems with their Pratt & Whitney engines, CE Leslie Thng said. "We have some flex in terms of the A320ceos that we are returning next year in 2024, so we are exploring whether we should maybe extend some of the leases to mitigate the impact," Thng told reporters ahead of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines' annual meeting, which starts on Thursday in Singapore. As at end-September, Scoot said it has 20 A320ceo aircraft on its fleet. It was not immediately clear how many aircraft were leased and how many leases were being looked into. Thng said four affected engines had led to two aircraft being grounded. The airline was aiming to fix one of these aircraft by the end of the month, he added. Pratt & Whitney parent RTX said in July a rare powder metal defect could lead to the cracking of some engine components and called for accelerated inspections.<br/>