By Yadarisa Shabong and Raechel Thankam Job
(Reuters) -Wizz Air said on Friday it had delayed taking the deliveries of 88 Airbus jets to fiscal year 2033, from 2030, and reduced its commitment to long-haul jets as the budget airline seeks to cut costs and revive profits.
The low-cost carrier has been under pressure to shore up margins after a turbulent year marked by profit shortfalls due to groundings of its Airbus jets. It has retreated from underperforming markets such as Abu Dhabi and Vienna.
The airline said it has agreed with the aircraft maker to convert orders for 36 A321XLR long-range jets to shorter-range smaller A321neo models, reducing its total A321XLR commitment to 11 aircraft from 47 earlier.
The smaller aircraft will limit the airline’s seat capacity and help reign in costs.
“This revised agreement adjusts the delivery schedule to align with a more sustainable and profitable capacity growth trajectory”, it said in a statement.
On Friday, it kept its overall orderbook of 273 planes unchanged and said its fleet would be entirely composed of fuel-efficient neo-generation aircraft by 2029.
Wizz had 41 aircraft grounded due to defects in RTX-owned Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engines as of June 30.
It is scheduled to report first-half results on November 13. Its shares were flat in early Friday trade.
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Josephine Mason)
