Wizz Air grew seat capacity by more than 25% year-on-year in September, outpacing a 24.2% rise in passenger numbers and pushing load factor down 0.8 percentage points to 92%.

The Central European budget carrier is now applying what it calls a more disciplined approach to capacity for the second half of its financial year. It disclosed earlier this month that it had cut its originally planned capacity for the six months to 31 March 2027 by 5%, citing "geopolitical and fuel-price volatilities".

The September figures close out a period in which Wizz Air was still in high capacity-growth mode. Chief executive Josef Varadi noted in August that the first half of fiscal 2027 would be the final period in which the airline was "still getting the originally-planned aircraft deliveries" from Airbus.

The delivery picture has already forced a structural rethink. Last year, Wizz Air pushed back delivery of 88 aircraft into the next decade and revised its medium-term annual seat growth target to about 10-12%.

Despite the load factor dip, the airline says it saw a "notable improvement" in September compared with earlier periods. Summer revenue performance came in "stronger than expected", prompting Wizz Air to raise its revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) guidance for the quarter ended 30 September to flat, having previously guided to a decline in the low single digits.

The revised RASK outlook gives the carrier a stronger revenue base as it enters the trimmed second-half schedule. Wizz Air is targeting revenues of €10 billion ($11.2 billion) and an EBIT margin of 10% by fiscal 2030.

The fleet transition underpins those targets. "By F30, we intend to operate an all-Neo fleet of 335 aircraft," says Varadi. The airline currently operates 276 Airbus A320 and A321 jets.

Reaching 335 aircraft within four fiscal years implies adding roughly 60 jets while retiring current-generation types — a rate that depends heavily on Airbus delivering against a schedule that has already slipped once. The second-half capacity cut suggests Wizz Air does not expect delivery pressure to ease before the end of this financial year.