Wizz Air chief Jozsef Varadi says the budget carrier is “rationalising” its Airbus A321XLR programme, following the decision to suspend its Middle Eastern operation.

The airline is to axe its Wizz Air Abu Dhabi division from 1 September.

Wizz started taking delivery of 47 A321XLRs in its fiscal first quarter, but the Abu Dhabi operation had been among the reasons for ordering the type.

In a first-quarter briefing Varadi says the airline will focus instead on its European markets, and the A321XLR rationalisation is to “ensure we have the right fleet for the network design”.

Varadi adds that the revision means that carrier will need to reduce its growth rate to “levels that support the demand” of the future network.

“This will require modification to our aircraft delivery schedules,” he states, adding that the airline is also retiring as many older A320-family jets as feasible.

Wizz Air had 236 aircraft at the end of June, including 157 A321neos – following the introduction of 10 during the quarter – as well as the initial XLR.

Varadi says the carrier is “pursuing all avenues” to restore aircraft grounded by Pratt & Whitney GTF engine issues to flight.

It had 41 still out of service at the end of June, although the trend is improving, and the full-year average is forecast to be 35.

Wizz Air adds that it is holding more than twice the number of spare engines that it would normally expect, owing to shorter time-on-wing intervals than expected for the powerplants.

The company says its recent selection of more GTF engines for its fleet will give it access to spare powerplants to “accelerate” the return to service of grounded jets.

Varadi says the company wants to concentrate on operating in “environmentally benign” regions – the carrier had cited engine reliability as one of the reasons for its Abu Dhabi withdrawal – as well as areas in which it already has market share.

“We believe our core Central and Eastern European markets satisfy both these criteria,” he says. “As such, we have developed initiatives that steer network design to focus on these markets.”

Wizz Air’s first-quarter operating profit was down by 38% to €27.5 million ($32.3 million), on a 13% increase in revenues to €1.43 billion. It attributes the profit decline to the engine groundings, as well as higher aeronautical charges and depreciation costs.