Across its three air operators' certificates (AOCs), the Wizz Air group has 162
aircraft. Operating budget flights as far west as the UK and as far east as Kazakhstan,
this airline brand has grown immensely since it was first established in 2003.
An all-Airbus, all-narrowbody fleet, Wizz Air has been modernizing its metal in recent years with
the addition of A320neo family jets. Today, we take a deep dive into the Wizz Air fleet
and its operations across Europe, the Middle East, and even Central Asia.
At a glance, we can see that Wizz Air group is technically made up of three different airlines
under the parent company of Wizz Air Holdings Plc. If we were to look at their legal names,
those airlines would be Wizz Air Hungary Airlines Limited,
Wizz Air UK Limited, and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.
Wizz Air Hungary was the carrier that began it all. Based in Budapest,
the carrier now has a total of 141 aircraft. This consists of the following Airbus jets:
52 A320-200s Six A320neos
35 A321-200s 47 A321neos
and one A330-200F
The oldest collection of aircraft across the entire group will be found
in this particular subsidiary. Indeed, the airline's A320-200s are as old as 15 years
but have an overall average of about nine years.
The A321-200s are a bit younger, averaging five years, while the A320 and A321neos are
mostly between one and two years old. It's worth noting, however,
that multiple new jets are being delivered to Wizz Air almost every month! Wizz Air
Hungary jets can be distinguished by the HA prefix on their registration codes.
We'll get more in-depth regarding Wizz Air's lone A330 freighter later in this video,
so keep watching!
The next entity was created specifically because
of the UK's exit from the European Union - otherwise known as Brexit.
Founded in October 2017, a few months after the UK triggered Article 50 to begin a formal
withdrawal from the European Union, Wizz Air UK specifically exists to retain full
UK market access - including operation of domestic flights within its borders.
As such, Wizz Air UK has an operator's certificate from the UK's Civil Aviation
Authority and is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.
Similar moves were made by other European budget airlines. UK-founded easyJet established
an EU-based subsidiary in Austria, while Ireland’s Ryanair established Ryanair UK.
At the time of this video’s production, the airline subsidiary has just 17 aircraft and
are as follows: Three A320-200s
Six A321-200s Eight A321neos
The A320-200s and A321-200s are fairly young at around four years of age. However,
the A321neos are incredibly new, ranging from a few months old to just one and a half years old.
You'll be able to identify UK-based aircraft
(apart from other Wizz Air jets) by spotting a G prefix on planes.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is the airline group's newest offshoot. Officially established
in December of 2019, the airline took off on its first revenue flight in January of 2021.
The airline actually only operates four aircraft, all Airbus A321neos. These were all delivered
brand new to the carrier between August and December of 2020, making them quite young.
While only four Wizz Air jets are based in Abu Dhabi, the airline serves more destinations out
of the airport by flying its European aircraft to the Emirate. This sees the airline operate
service to Abu Dhabi from cities like Budapest, Bucharest, Krakow, and more, using HA prefix jets
(as opposed to the A6 prefix that identifies Wizz Air jets based in the Emirates).
From Abu Dhabi, Wizz Air operates service to destinations in Oman, Kazakhstan, and more.
As is typical with most low-cost carriers,
Wizz Air's jets are fitted with a single class configuration. While seat width is
a fairly standard 17 to 18 inches among budget airlines and their 737s or A320s,
Wizz Air's seat pitch is quite tight. This equates to some of the densest cabins in the industry.
While Ryanair offers a seat pitch of around 30 inches,
Wizz Air passengers have a seat pitch of 28 inches- at least according to SeatGuru.com.
easyJet fits right in the middle with a seat pitch of about 29 inches - although
capacity numbers across identical types indicate that spacing is quite similar.
But one difference stands out between easyJet and Wizz Air:
While easyJet's A321neos are fitted with 235 seats, Wizz Air takes things to the
extreme by squeezing in an additional four - making room for a total of 239 passengers.
At the outset of this video, it was mentioned that the airline is an all-Airbus,
all-narrowbody fleet. This statement is true if we're only looking at passenger
operations and what travelers will experience for themselves.
However, the airline does in fact operate a single widebody aircraft in the form of a single
Airbus A330-200F. This nearly eight-year-old freighter came from Qatar Airways in October 2020
and, as we noted before, came as part of a purchase by the Hungarian government,
who wanted Wizz to fly Foreign Ministry cargo missions with it.
This aircraft is registered HA-LHU and is technically operated by Wizz Air under its AOC.
However, it operates under the direction of Hungary's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
and the Hungarian Government in general. This arrangement may not last forever
as the low-cost carrier has only been contracted to operate the aircraft through March 31, 2023.
However, if supply chain issues persist,
then it's quite conceivable that this arrangement will be extended.
Wizz Air hopes to be seen by the public as an
environmentally friendly airline with an environmentally friendly fleet.
In June of 2022, the airline announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with European aerospace manufacturer Airbus. This agreement covers a feasibility study
for hydrogen-powered aircraft operations. As we noted in a previous article on Simple Flying.com,
the intent of this MoU is to gain insight into how future hydrogen-powered planes
could impact the Hungarian budget airline's business model and fleet.
Airbus and Wizz will partner up to examine the
effects of future hydrogen-powered aircraft on the airline's network,
schedule, and bases. The two companies will study a wide range of issues related to new technology,
such as refueling, aircraft range, and other performance characteristics.
"We believe that growth and sustainability are not mutually exclusive,
with leading-edge new technology paving the way to more sustainable air travel.
This momentous agreement with Airbus will advance sustainable aviation across the globe
through development of ultra-efficient operations and business models of the future."
-Johan Eidhagen, Chief People & Environmental, Social, and Governance Officer, Wizz Air
The airline didn't stop there. About one month later, Wizz Air performed its first
green demonstration flight, operating a special service between Bucharest and Lyon.
Conducted in advance of the European Union's Connecting Europe Days 2022 sustainability
conference in Lyon, the A321neo flight was partially powered by sustainable aviation fuel
(SAF). The carrier utilized a 4.5-tonne blend of 30% pure SAF and 70% Jet A1 fuel.
Overall, the trip used a 14.2% blend of SAF, cutting carbon emissions by 12.8%.
The airline joins several other carriers in demonstrating the acceptance of sustainable
aviation fuel. While this makes for good marketing and public relations, airlines may soon be forced
into burning some form of SAF. Indeed, the EU may soon mandate that airport suppliers
offer fuel containing a minimum share of SAF, including a minimum share of synthetic fuel.
According to IATA, the mandate is expected to start in 2025 with a minimum volume of SAF at 2%,
increasing in five-year intervals to ultimately reach a minimum volume of 63% in 2050.
Commenting on Wizz Air's environmentally-friendly reputation, Chief People and ESG officer,
Johan Eidhagen said that the carrier has quote "the lowest carbon emissions
per passenger-kilometre in Europe, which will be reduced by a further 25 percent by 2030."
This isn't too surprising given the airline's operation of neo aircraft
combined with its high seat densities.
Quite a few of the airlines we've covered in this fleet analysis series are in transitional
states. Wizz Air is another airline that's in a bit of a transition period as well,
as it continues to modernize its fleet with Airbus A320neo family jets.
Of course, Wizz Air's transition from old and less-efficient jets to newer, more efficient
aircraft may not be as noticeable given the replacements are just revised, re-engined updates.
There won't be a shift from Airbus to Boeing, nor a change from A320 family to A220 family.
Shiny new cabin features won't appear in newly delivered aircraft,
nor will customers get any more legroom than they did before.
Instead, Wizz Air will be the main beneficiary of its fleet modernization,
with incoming aircraft being around 15% more efficient.
In addition to updating and modernizing its fleet of Airbus narrowbodies,
the airline will continue to seek new markets and expand into cities not yet
served by the airline. From Iceland to the Canary Islands, and from Abu Dhabi to Kazakhstan,
Wizz Air continues to test out new routes - many made possible with its neo aircraft.
A bigger change on the horizon will be the introduction of the A321XLR. Across the Group,
there are 20 A321XLRs on order, which are expected to enter service in 2023.
Speaking at a World Routes event for airlines and airports in 2021, József Váradi, co-founder
and CEO of Wizz Air was clear about where his future long-range jets will and won't fly:
"We'll go further east. We won't be going transatlantic," he said. Adding: "we'll
learn from others who tried to conquer the world [with long-haul, low-cost] and didn't succeed."
But what is your experience of Wizz Air?
What flights have you taken with this low-cost carrier? Let us know by leaving a comment.