Wizz Air sees engine issues recovering after peak groundings

Wizz Air Holdings Plc expects the aircraft-engine issues that have led to widespread jet groundings to start improving, saying it’s at a peak of the disruptions that have weighed on the low-cost carrier’s operations for the past year. The airline had 47 Airbus SE A320 family aircraft on the ground because of engine issues as of May 17, it said in a company filing. Wizz said it expects about 50 aircraft grounded by the end of the first half of fiscal 2025. “We are peaking as we speak,” CEO Jozsef Varadi said in an interview. “We are starting to see the engine issues as more of an upside because the situation is bad enough.” Wizz rose as much as 6% in London trading, narrowing the decline this year to about 5.9%. The carrier will receive aircraft without the engine issues starting next month while Pratt & Whitney has cut down engine shop visit times from 300 days to about 180 days, the CEO said. Varadi expects to have 35 jets grounded next summer and said he’s confident he can put the issue to rest entirely in the next few of years. Capacity won’t advance in the fiscal first half and the full year as the Hungarian budget airline continues to grapple with geopolitical instability and the groundings, Wizz said in the filing. The company said it has secured compensation from Pratt and expects more payments “on similar terms” for the final quarter of the fiscal year “and beyond.” Trading in the financial year “has been encouraging, with sustained demand and positive booking momentum for the summer,” Wizz said. The company predicted net income for the full year of E500m ($541m) to E600m, compared with a Bloomberg estimate of E515m. Net income attributable to shareholders last year reached E376m, beating estimates.<br/>