2 Wizz-planes made emergency landings in Budapest, airline to miss at least 50 aircraft in 2024
Two Wizz Air-planes made emergency landings in Budapest. One of them did so because of a technical issue, while the other landed because one of the passengers felt unbearable pain. Meanwhile, the Hungarian low-cost airline admitted that they will miss at least 50 aircraft due to problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines.
Two emergency landings in Budapest concerning Wizz Air
According to Telex, the Budapest-Barcelona flight had to return to Budapest yesterday at 8 PM, right after its departure. That came after the weather radar malfunctioned, so the pilot followed the protocol by returning immediately to Budapest. Thankfully, the maintenance team could mend the technical issue quickly. As a result, the passengers could restart their journey to Barcelona.
Later, another Wizz flight had to stop in Budapest since one of their passengers struggled with unbearable pain. A doctor and the crew on board concluded that she needed immediate medical attention in a hospital. As a result, the pilot landed in Budapest and the patient, where an ambulance car waited for her. Afterwards, the plane continued its flight to the Georgian Kutaisi.
Wizz Air apologised for the inconvenience but stated that safety and passenger protection are of paramount importance.
50 Wizz-planes will be grounded in 2024
According to AIRportal.hu, Wizz Air could increase its revenues by 1/3rd (EUR 5.073 billion) and became a profitable (EUR 366 million) company from a loss-making one last year. Meanwhile, they expressed their intention to increase the rate of punctual flights to 80% this year.
Wizz Air carried 62 million passengers between March 2023 and March 2024, with a load factor of 90.1%, which is a 2.3% increase. However, only 65.3% of their flights were punctual. Therefore, they would like to increase that rate to 80% in 2024.
At the end of March, 45 planes were on the ground due to problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines. They received financial compensation from the manufacturer. Until end-2024, the number of grounded planes will rise to 50 because the average engine reparation time is 300 days. However, they will fill the gaps with 27 new aircraft, prolonged leasings and wet leases.
Dozens of long-range planes
The Hungarian low-cost airline calculates with EUR 5-600 million in this financial year.
With a considerable increase, by 2030, they would like to operate 449 aircraft in their fleet (in 2025, the expected number is 227). 47 of them will be long-range A321XLR planes. However, CEO József Váradi has not mentioned yet any intentions concerning Transatlantic flights. He talked about new destinations in India and Central Asia: HERE is our detailed article on the issue.
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