Yahoo Finance Wizz Air buys 102 Airbus jets to take on rivals
Budget airline Wizz Air is to step up its challenge to bigger rivals such as Ryanair and easyJet by buying a further 102 Airbus jets.
The Budapest-based carrier currently operates 154 aircraft and has plans to build a fleet of 500 by the end of the decade.
In today’s announcement the Eastern Europe’s biggest low cost airline said it had agreed to buy 75 Airbus A321neo and 27 Airbus A321XLR aircraft, most to be delivered between 2025 and 2027.
Airbus also granted Wizz Air rights to purchase up to an additional 75 Airbus A321neo for deliveries in 2028 and 2029.
CEO József Váradi said: “The combination of Wizz Air’s ultra-low cost operation and the market-leading Airbus A321neo aircraft together create a strong platform for Wizz Air’s future growth in the coming decade as we further strengthen our position as one of the world’s most sustainable airlines.
“We remain on track to become a 500-aircraft airline group by the end of the decade while delivering our commitment to reduce our already industry-leading CO2 emissions by 25% by 2030.”
It is the latest in a flurry of orders for Airbus’s neo “family” At the Farnborough air show in July easyJet confirmed an order for 56 A320neo jets.
The A320neo aircraft are claimed to be “at least” 20% fuel saving. Airbus has had more than 8100 orders from more than 130 customers to date.
The Wizz Air order comes the day after it managed to fly one of four jets stranded in Ukraine out of the war torn country. A Wizz Air A320 took off from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and landed in Katowice in Poland.
Wizz Air still has three other Airbus A320 aircraft stuck in Ukraine. The country’s airspace was closed to all civilian air traffic at the start of the conflict.
