Wizz Air was forced to ground its planes after Airbus engines were found to have faults. It also warned that it would be running fewer flights during Christmas.
The budget carrier announced that its capacity in the second half of this year will be 10pc less after problems were discovered with the engines on its Airbus SE A320neo planes.
Wizz Air was informed by RTX, an aerospace supplier, that there were problems with a Pratt & Whitney engine. These engines are found in certain A320neo.
Other British and European airlines, including easyJet, are known to use engines from different manufacturers.
The problem with Pratt & Whitney engine involves a “rare defect in powder metal that is used to make certain engine parts”, RTX stated. This could lead to them cracking.
Wizz Air will have to check a number of engines for the rest of this year and until 2024. The airline stated that it was “assessing implications to understand the magnitude of the impact” on its fleet.
Airbus SE A320neo planes will be grounded in large numbers around the world. RTX estimates around 600-700 engines will need to be removed.
Wizz Air stated that it will “continue to collaborate with Pratt & Whitney in order to minimize the impact on its fleet plan and the costs to the business”.
A spokesman stated: “The Company will seek financial compensation from Pratt & Whitney.”
Wizz Air will have to deal with another set of problems after learning last month that tens of thousands (or more) passengers may be entitled to compensation. For several years, the Hungary-based carrier rejected all claims for cancelled flights.
In a first-of its-kind move, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), UK’s airline regulator allowed passengers to claim compensation for cancelled flights dating back up to six years. Around 15,000 passengers could be eligible for compensation.
John Strickland of JLS Consulting said the engine inspections were a “significant” issue for Wizz Air.
He said: “When it’s necessary to reduce capacity for any reason, you should look at how to do it in a way that has the least impact on the commercial side of things. Then, you can spread the pain out so you don’t inflict significant damage to one area or one group of passengers. This is a long and tedious process.
He said: “They may be able to counteract some of the effect because of the seasonality in air traffic which generates lower volume of passengers in certain markets in winter and help to ease the impacts but nonetheless is quite a substantial amount of capacity that has come out, when they expected to grow up to 30% in the second half.”