Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air may be forced to cut capacity by up to 10% over the next two quarters due to a new problem with the engines on its A320neo family aircraft.
Engine problems at Wizz Air
According to AIRportal.hu, Pratt & Whitney’s parent company has issued new information on the problems caused by the use of substandard raw materials in the production of a GTF engine component.
Wizz Air estimates that this could result in a 10% capacity reduction for the airline over the next two quarters, between 1 October and 31 March. The affected engines will have to be removed from the aircraft and sent to the manufacturer’s designated service centre for a long time period.
The airline adds that it is continuing to analyse the impact of the problem on operations. Wizz is working with the engine manufacturer to ensure that as few aircraft as possible have to be grounded for as short a period as possible. In addition, Wizz Air is developing proactive measures to mitigate the impact on its finances and flight operations. The low-cost airline will seek compensation from Pratt & Whitney.
Problem is much bigger than previously thought
As Daily News Hungary reported before, microscopic contaminants have been found in the metal powder used in the turbine blades of the high-pressure stages of engines produced by Pratt & Whitney between 2015 and 2021.
The engines must be dismantled and returned to the manufacturer’s designated service centre for complete dismantling. This was previously estimated by the manufacturer to take 60 days per engine; however, the latest information is that it will take 300 days.
The manufacturer predicts that the overhauls will last until 2026 and will affect between six and seven hundred engines.
Several Budapest routes rescheduled
It is not known if it is related to this case, but Wizz Air has recently changed the schedule and the number of flights on several routes, including Budapest, according to a post on the schedule analysis site Aeroroutes.
As for the Budapest routes: from the end of October, 11 flights per week will be operated to Eindhoven instead of 14, 2 instead of 3 to Jeddah, 19 instead of 21 to London Luton and 4 instead of 5 to Warsaw. However, capacity on the Luton and Eindhoven routes will remain as previously advertised around the end of year holidays (5 December – 8 January).
However, from Budapest to Reykjavik, Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, the airline will increase the number of flights from 2 to 3 per week, while to Giza-Sphix airport near Cairo, the A320s will be replaced by larger A321s on the advertised 3 times a week.
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