Wizz Air takes delivery of aircraft manufactured in China
Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing and most sustainable (1) airline, is the first European airline to take delivery of an Airbus A321neo aircraft manufactured in China. The new addition to the fleet, built in Tianjin, will be welcomed by Wizz Air four years after the first of its kind was taken delivery of.
The incoming aircraft will be the 92nd Airbus A321neo owned by WIZZ, bringing the proportion of “neo” technology models in the airline’s international fleet to more than 50 percent (2). Wizz Air also has the largest order for Airbus A321neo in Europe and plans to acquire a further 355 aircraft by the end of the decade under the “WIZZ500 ambition”.
The Airbus A321neo is the most efficient narrow-body aircraft currently on the market, with 239 seats in a single-class layout. Equipped with a Pratt and Whitney GTF engine, the model delivers the lowest fuel consumption per passenger, enabling Wizz Air to achieve the lowest carbon footprint of any major European airline (3) while reducing costs.
The aircraft type also offers significant environmental benefits: noise emissions are reduced by almost 50 percent, fuel consumption by 30 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent compared to the previous type (4). The transport flight from China to Europe will be operated in the coming days with a 10% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blend.
The new Airbus A321neo aircraft will be financed through a lease agreement between Wizz Air and its financing partner AVIC.
“The Airbus A321neo is the most efficient single-aisle aircraft currently in service, which is why we chose it. As well as providing exceptional operational economics, it also provides us with a foundation to maintain our position as one of the world’s most sustainable airlines. This helps us to continue to reduce our carbon intensity per passenger as we grow. Today is an important milestone, as the Airbus A321neo will make up more than 50% of our fleet for the first time. It is fitting that we celebrate this occasion by becoming the first European customer to take delivery of an aircraft from Airbus’ final assembly line in Tianjin. I would like to thank the Airbus and AVIC teams for making this possible. We look forward to continuing to work with them as Wizz Air continues to grow towards becoming a 500-aircraft airline by the end of the decade,” said Váradi József, CEO of Wizz Air.
“It is a great pleasure to celebrate with Wizz Air the delivery of the Pratt and Whitney GTF-powered A321neo aircraft, which arrives straight from the Airbus final assembly line in Tianjin. We are truly delighted to contribute to the airline’s growth through our partnership,” said AVIC Leasing.
(1) Based on CAPA – Centre for Aviation Awards 2022
(2) The new aircraft will bring Wizz Air’s total fleet to 183 aircraft, of which 87 are A321neo aircraft.
(3) Based on the latest publicly published emissions data for a 12-month period (Ryanair, EasyJet). Due to differences between reporting periods, the figures and timeframe do not fully match.
(4) Based on a comparison of the Airbus A320neo and Airbus A320ceo families.
Looks very much like Airbus has learned nothing – bigtime.
Give it two years and we’ll see very very cheap look-alike copies of A 321neos flying off the Chinese production line as one of their own.
The greedy multi-nationals have learned nothing from what Tricky Dicky started when he first visited the PRC (1972) – taking with him the biggest US companies, later followed by most of the West’s biggest companies (all because of dirt-cheap labour), and look where China is today.
Another reason not to fly Wizzair. Chinese aircraft. What could possibly go wrong? I used to say if its Boeing I am not going now I have to add or Airbus.