Inspections of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G aircraft engine, also known as the Geared Turbofan (GTF) will force Wizz Air to cut capacity at two London airports.
Wizz Air will cut some flights from London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and Luton Airport (LTN) between September 2023 and October 2023, according to a statement sent to LondonWorld. The low-cost carrier has “made adjustments to the network resulting in cancellations of some flights on selected days between certain destinations” due to the inspections of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines powering its Airbus A320neo family aircraft.
However, the company did not detail the affected routes or how much capacity will be removed from its networks at the two London airports.
During its Q1 FY24 results announcement on August 3, 2023, the airline’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) József Váradi said that Wizz Air has “limited information as to the scope of engine inspections in H2 and highlight that our guidance of +30 percent higher ASK [Available Seat Kilometers – ed. note] vs last year remains subject to further communication from OEM on this matter”.
Its H1 FY24 capacity, measured in ASK, should grow by 25%, after a 5% reduction caused by infrastructure and supply chain limitations, the PW1100G engine inspections. The airline still expects this capacity increase to “drive better yield given the ongoing market constraints on capacity.”
RTX, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, announced the need to inspect the PW1100G engine, exclusively powering the Airbus A320neo aircraft family, in late July 2023. The company explained that “a rare condition in powder metal used to manufacture certain engine parts will require accelerated fleet inspection.”
This would “require accelerated removals and inspections within the next nine to twelve months, including approximately 200 accelerated removals by mid-September of this year.”
In total, Wizz Air has 191 Airbus A320ceo and A320neo aircraft, including two aircraft leased from SmartLynx and Titan Airways, throughout four different Air Operator’s Certificates (AOC). Out of those, 103 are variants of the A320neo family, including the A320neo, A321neo, and one A321LR (owned by Titan Airways), two of which are stored, according to ch-aviation.com data.
Wizz Air UK, the low-cost carrier’s subsidiary in the United Kingdom, has 17 aircraft in its fleet, nine of which are A321neos, including one A321LR (on wet lease from Titan Airways).
AeroTime approached Wizz Air for comment.