(Bloomberg) -- Wizz Air Holdings Plc reported progress with aircraft-engine problems that have kept part of the budget carrier’s Airbus SE fleet on the ground this year and continue to weigh on profit and growth.
The number of jets idled fell to 41 as of Sept. 30, six months earlier than the airline originally forecast, Wizz said Thursday in a statement. At the end of June, the figure had stood at 46.
Still, the airline continues to feel the pressure of added costs. Shares of Wizz fell the most in a month on Thursday after the company said net income fell during its fiscal first half.
Resolving the maintenance holdups will be “slow and gradual,” Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said in an interview. “It is not a quick progress.”
Faulty high-temperature coatings on the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines have forced Wizz to ground a portion of its narrowbody fleet for removal and inspections. The situation has eaten into profit and stunted the carrier’s capacity this year.
For the six months through Sept. 30, Wizz reported a 21% drop in net income to €315.2 million ($339 million), according to the statement.
While Wizz reiterated its full-year net income guidance of between €350 and €450 million, analysts noted that foreign exchanged tailwinds have helped to boost profit, and costs are rising.
“In our view, Wizz still needs to show it can execute (especially on cost) as we go through winter,” Harry Gowers, an analyst at JPMorgan, said in a note.
Wizz shares fell as much as 4.6% on Thursday in London. They have declined 40% this year, compared with an about 3% drop at Ryanair Holdings Plc and a 4% gain at EasyJet Plc.
Budapest-based Wizz said it is receiving compensation from Pratt, an RTX Corp. unit, and negotiating a new accord.
After receiving eight more spares, Wizz now expects to have 40-45 planes parked at a time over the next 18 months. Previously, it had anticipated about 50. While engine work is being turned around more quickly, there will be more shop visits in the future.
“All in, this is probably net positive to the company given that we are able to operate more aircraft than being forced to ground those aircraft,” Varadi said. “But please don’t take it like we have found a miracle here, we haven’t.”
Varadi expects the engine delays to limit passenger growth to 20% next year and be resolved by March 2027.
Wizz’s results follow Ryanair earnings on Monday, when the Irish carrier cut its passenger growth target for next year because of Boeing Co. delivery delays.
(Updates with analyst quote.)
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