Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) will cut some flights to and from London Luton and London Gatwick Airports due to aircraft going out of service for engine inspections after Pratt & Whitney identified potential metal fatigue problems with certain PW1100G geared turbofan (GTF) engines.

First reported by the London World outlet, Wizz Air says an unspecified number of flights on routes to and from the two airports will be cancelled over September and October. "Wizz Air announces today that due to the accelerated inspections of several of our GTF engines mandated by Pratt & Whitney, we have made adjustments to the network resulting in cancellations of some flights on selected days between certain destinations," a Wizz Air statement reads.

In late July, Pratt & Whitney confirmed A320neo aircraft family powered by PW1100G engines manufactured between 2015 and 2020 would need to go out of service for "accelerated inspections" after discovering "a rare condition in powder metal used to manufacture certain engine parts," namely the turbine discs, could lead to micro-cracks and fatigue. Approximately 200 engines at airlines around the globe need inspecting this year, and around 1,200 over 2024.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, across its four AOCs - Wizz Air, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, Wizz Air Malta, and Wizz Air UK - Wizz Air Holdings operates a total of ninety-eight A321-200NX and six A320-200Ns, all powered by the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine. The aircraft have variously entered into service between March 2019 and July 2023. A further 210 are on order, plus seventy-nine A321-200Ns and forty-five A321-200NY(XLR)s. The remainder of the holding's fleet is made up of A320-200s, A321-200s, and one A330-200F all of which are unaffected by the latest engine issues.

London Luton is Wizz Air's second biggest hub after its Budapest home base. ch-aviation capacities data reveals Luton handles 238 Wizz Air flights per week, offering over 49,000 seats. After easyJet UK (U2, London Luton), Wizz Air is Luton's second-largest airline customer.

Wizz Air UK (W9, London Luton) and Wizz Air Malta (W4, Malta International) fly the flag for Wizz Air at London Gatwick, albeit on a smaller scale than at Luton. Wizz Air UK presently operates 70 flights a week into Gatwick, providing 16,100 seats, while Wizz Air Malta operates 53 flights a week through the airport, offering over 12,500 seats. Wizz Air UK's eight A321-200NX were all delivered in 2021, while Wizz Air Malta is potentially more more exposed to the engine problems, operating six A320.200Ns and fifty-one A321-200NX.

Wizz Air did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment.