Wizz Air's Profit Drops 67% as Jet Fuel Bites, and 22 Jets Still Sit Waiting on GTF Engines

Europe's biggest ultra-low-cost carrier just showed in numbers what the whole industry has been saying about fuel this fall.

Wizz Air reported Thursday morning that net profit for the six months to September 30 fell 66.6%, to €108.1 million, down from €323.5 million a year earlier. Its fuel bill rose 33.7%, to €1.24 billion. The airline still grew: 46.1 million passengers, up 26.2%, at a 92.5% load factor. Revenue rose 13.8%, to about €3.8 billion.

The quick facts

• Two very different quarters. Wizz lost €198.2 million from April to June, when the war in the Middle East sent fuel prices soaring and forced route suspensions. It then earned €306.3 million from July to September, up 7.4% on last year.
• Fuel price. Wizz paid an average of $1,090 a tonne including hedges, compared with $914 in the same half a year earlier.
• Cheaper tickets, more people. Average revenue per passenger fell 9.9%, to €82.50. Wizz filled the planes by flying shorter routes inside Europe at lower fares.
• Costs ahead. Wizz now expects full-year unit costs, excluding fuel, to rise by a mid-single-digit percentage. CEO József Váradi told Reuters the biggest single item is more than €100 million in extra costs from retiring its older A320ceo jets.
• Hedging. Reuters reports Wizz has hedged 82% of this winter's fuel and 51% for April to October 2027.
• Wizz shares fell as much as 4% in early trading, then recovered most of the loss, according to Reuters.

The engine problem hasn't gone away

For anyone who flies a geared-turbofan Airbus, this is the part to watch. On September 30, Wizz still had 22 aircraft grounded for Pratt & Whitney GTF engine inspections, down from 35 a year earlier. It expects 15 to 20 to still be on the ground at the end of its fiscal year in March, and none by the end of 2027.

So a jet still parked today could be parked for most of another year. Meanwhile the fleet kept growing: 16 new A321neos and three A321XLRs arrived during the half, bringing Wizz to 276 aircraft.

Why it matters

To pilots: A grounded airplane hurts twice. The airline pays for an aircraft that isn't flying, and the schedule, crew planning and growth all have to work around it. Add a fleet transition (ceo jets going out, neos and XLRs coming in), more heavy checks, and Wizz's maintenance spending, which rose 28.5%. Every pilot who has been through a fleet transition knows that's where the costs pile up.

To passengers: Wizz is still selling cheap seats, but fuel is now the main driver of fares. The same day, Etihad CEO Antonoaldo Neves told Gulf News that jet fuel is "about all in $150 a barrel" and warned fares could come under pressure from the second quarter of 2027 as airlines' hedges run down. Hedges buy time, but they don't last forever.

The routing piece: Wizz's Abu Dhabi and Dubai flying stays paused. The airline says airspace restrictions in the region force much longer routings, which means more flight time and more cost. We've talked on the show about what flying near conflict zones and dealing with GPS jamming looks like from the flight deck. Listen to War Zone Flying & GPS Jamming in Istanbul. The detours on the map show up on the balance sheet too.

The bottom line

There is one bright spot. Reuters notes that spot jet fuel in Northwest Europe has fallen 18% this month, to its lowest level since August. That may come too late to help this winter. For now, the airlines are full, the fares are under pressure, and the planes are flying around trouble spots. The carriers that come out ahead will be the ones whose hedges and fleet plans hold up until fuel prices ease.

Sources

• Reuters, "Wizz Air warns of higher costs on top of fuel pressures," Yamini Kalia and Gianluca Lo Nostro, Nov 12, 2026 (via Euronext, stamped 11:28, likely CET ≈ 5:28 AM ET): https://live.euronext.com/en/financial-news/wizz-air-warns-higher-costs-top-fuel-pressures
• Aviacionline, "Wizz Air posts €108.1 million first-half profit as a strong second quarter offsets the Middle East blow," Edgardo Gimenez Mazó, Nov 12, 2026, 08:21 (site local time): https://www.aviacionline.com/english/commercial-aviation/europe/wizz-air-posts-108-1-million-euro-first-half-profit-as-strong-second-quarter-offsets-middle-east-blow
• Gulf News, "Etihad CEO flags jet fuel costs as key challenge for airlines in 2027," Dhanusha Gokulan and Mark Thompson, updated Nov 12, 2026: https://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/etihad-ceo-flags-jet-fuel-costs-as-key-challenge-for-airlines-in-2027-warns-fares-could-rise-1.500744652
• Wizz Air investor results page: https://corporate.wizzair.com/investors/business-results-calendar/

Photo: Lukas Bessert, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons