Wizz Air Airbus Aircraft Grounded

Wizz Air aircraft will remain grounded for the foreseeable future as the budget carrier battles issues with Pratt & Whitney engines.

As of June 30, 2025, the company confirmed that 41 planes were temporarily grounded due to engine-related inspections that needed to be conducted.

Moving forward, the number of grounded aircraft across F26 is estimated to be 35, which represents an improvement over the expected number from the last fiscal year, but by no means a full recovery, which will be some time away.

Forecasting is built upon the airline’s 300-day engine turnaround time; however, as time progresses and supply chains stabilise, there is hope that this time can be reduced.

Wizz Air states that, in addition to the tainted metal issue, their day-to-day operations have been affected by the poorer performance of the GTF engine.

That poor performance has been driven by lower time on wing before an inspection is conducted, and is compounded by MRO congestion.

Wizz Air finds itself in a position where it is carrying twice the number of spare engines than it would usually have, and that translates to twice as many as it is obliged to take.

As a result, the carrier attempts to find ways to limit the overall impact on its day-to-day operations, but this has proved challenging, as highlighted by groundings and changes across the network to reflect the engine woes.

To resolve this, patience will be required, but Wizz Air has reassured customers that it’s doing everything in its power to navigate the troubles, with new agreements being signed with Pratt & Whitney.

That new agreement will give the airline access to additional engines for F27, meaning that more planes can be accelerated back into service from their initial estimates and thus reduce the number of grounded planes.

More Details On Wizz Air

At the beginning of 2025, the budget carrier shared a more negative outlook, expecting that many planes would remain parked for at least the next four to five years.

Based on this estimate, while Wizz Air believed the situation would improve with fewer planes parked each calendar year, overall, planes would be parked at least until the 2029/2030 timeframe.

While the number of planes on the ground remains substantial, Wizz Air has seen visible improvements in other key areas, helping to mitigate some of the stresses it would have faced.

Delivery rates have steadily improved, and Wizz took the opportunity in its latest quarterly report to confirm that more aircraft are being delivered, an encouraging sign amid the recent supply chain woes.

Concerning the A321XLR, which has been a hot topic of conversation following the airline’s decision to exit the Middle East, there’s great importance in ensuring the perfect fleet makeup to deliver the strategy the carrier wants.

This will result in A321XLR orders being cancelled, likely reducing the total number of XLR jets flown by Wizz Air to a margin lower than the initially ordered amount.