Wizz Air CCO: RFPs heavily 'oversubscribed' amid strong JOLCO and sale/leaseback demand

Wizz Air’s Chief Corporate Officer, Owain Jones, speaks exclusively to Ishka Airfinance about how the airline is financing one of Europe’s largest narrowbody orderbooks, why rising Japanese interest rates have not dented JOLCO demand, and the importance of fuel hedging as structural risk mitigation.

 

Wizz Air’s (Wizz) aircraft financing tenders are “a number of times oversubscribed”, Chief Corporate Officer Owain Jones tells Ishka Airfinance, reflecting strong demand from lessors and Japanese investors as the airline finances one of Europe’s largest Airbus narrowbody orderbooks.

The airline has a firm orderbook of 254 Airbus narrowbodies, comprising 250 A321neos and four A321XLRs, with deliveries through 2033 after an agreement to defer 88 aircraft with Airbus last November.

Jones says Wizz runs two financing tenders a year, inviting bids for both JOLCOs and sale/leasebacks, with JOLCOs generally delivering the strongest economics.

“There’s a lot of competition. The A321neo, as a product, lessors love it, and there isn’t that much supply,” says Jones.

“Each of our tenders is a number of times oversubscribed. Not all of it is going to be at a level we’ll consider, but we can guarantee there’s going to be oversubscription. Then we let the top five to ten guys negotiate, which brings us out to probably some of the strongest financing results of any airline.”

Jones adds that the recent rise in Japanese interest rates has not dampened demand for Wizz’s JOLCO transactions. Last month, the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 1%, the highest level since 1995.

“Yes, the yen rate is high, but that’s not affecting the appetite that we see. This is a corporate tax set-off through accelerated depreciation; it isn’t just banking the money and getting interest. It has a different purpose.”

Alongside JOLCOs, Jones says sale/leasebacks remain central to Wizz’s fleet planning. Wizz increased its use of sale/leasebacks in FY2026, completing transactions involving 33 aircraft and 18 engines, up from 16 aircraft and 10 engines the previous year.

“It gives us certainty of how long we’re going to keep that aircraft and when we pass it on, and it keeps our fleet renewal going through the orderbook.”

The strategy is reflected in Wizz’s planned retirement of its A321ceo fleet. Jones says all 41 aircraft were placed on sale/leasebacks, allowing the airline to return them to lessors on lease expiry while maintaining fleet growth through incoming A321neo deliveries. The first of the 41 A321ceos exited the fleet in March.

Wizz generally structures sale/leasebacks with 9 to 12-year lease terms before returning the aircraft, although Jones notes the airline did agree to some tactical extensions on younger aircraft around three years ago to help manage the initial GTF disruption.

Ishka Airfinance data shows that in the next 18 months, Wizz has A321ceo leases expiring with lessors including Carlyle Aviation Partners, Bocomm Leasing, Orix Aviation, Airborne Capital, AviLease and SMBC Aviation Capital.

 

 

Why Wizz never feared a supply crisis

 

Jet fuel has dominated industry conversations in 2026 since the onset of conflict in the Middle East in February. Fuel accounted for 26.8% of airline operating costs in 2025, according to IATA.

Despite the volatility, Jones says the disruption was always a question of price rather than supply.

Close communication with fuel suppliers gave Wizz a rolling two-to-three-month outlook on potential disruptions, and alongside refiners’ ability to switch production towards jet fuel and increased imports from other countries, the airline never expected widespread shortages.

Jones adds that clearer communication from authorities during the early weeks of the crisis might have tempered concerns over fuel availability.

“Certainly, that first three to four weeks gave some air to this [being a] crisis and all the sensationalist headlines: ‘Aviation will be grounded in a month’.

“We took a far more pragmatic view, and we’ve said consistently throughout that we didn’t have particular concerns about supply. It was more for the industry going to be an issue of price.”

Wizz has not emerged entirely unscathed from the conflict, however. Following the initial outbreak of conflict, the airline suspended its Middle East operations, which accounted for around 5% of seats and 10% of ASKs, with exposure concentrated on Israel and Tel Aviv routes after the closure of its Abu Dhabi base in September 2025. Wizz says that most of the displaced capacity has since been redeployed to core Central and Eastern European markets.

The geopolitical uncertainty also prompted Wizz to withhold full-year FY27 guidance, citing the conflict in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as limiting visibility for the rest of the year.

 

The price of certainty

 

Wizz’s response to that price risk has centred on its hedging programme.

As of 29 May, Wizz had hedged 84% of H1 FY27 and 71% of H2 FY27 jet fuel requirements using zero-cost collars, with a further 17% of FY28 requirements already secured, extending cover around 18 months ahead.

Wizz’s H1 FY27 zero-cost collars set a floor of US $757 per metric tonne and a cap of US $826 per metric tonne, protecting the airline against higher fuel prices while limiting the benefit if prices fall below the floor.

During April’s price spike, European jet fuel prices briefly exceeded US $1,800 per metric tonne, more than double Wizz’s collar cap.

“If you don’t have the hedging, the issue you have is that you’ll not be able to price your ticket to match your input cost, and that’s going to burn your cash very, very quickly,” says Jones.

The strategy reflects lessons learned during the 2022 fuel price spike. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Wizz was largely unhedged, having stepped back from fuel hedging following Covid, after airlines wrote off billions of dollars on fuel contracts as demand collapsed and crude prices fell sharply.

“Hedging doesn’t come free. It adds maybe three to four per cent to our fuel bill,” says Jones, adding that Wizz remained exposed for around two financial years while rebuilding its hedging programme.

“Do we think that hedging is the best thing on earth? No, we would far rather not be hedging, but that would be a silly thing where your key competitors are hedged.”

 

The Ishka View

 

Wizz Air’s comments reinforce that lessor and investor appetite for the airline remains strong despite this year’s geopolitical uncertainty. Ishka Airfinance understands that top airline credits continue to attract 30-40 bids for financing tenders, which continues to drive aggressive pricing from lessors, banks and Japanese investors.

Wizz’s biggest operational constraint remains Pratt & Whitney’s GTF inspections. With groundings expected to fall from around 30 aircraft at the end of Q1 to 15-20 by year-end, capacity should gradually return as engines complete MRO shop visits. Jones says Wizz remains in regular contact with Pratt & Whitney to coordinate engine shop inductions, spare parts deliveries and the wider recovery programme. Assuming Pratt & Whitney meets that timeline, Wizz’s growth constraints should gradually shift from engine availability to aircraft deliveries.

The fuel price outlook, which has played a defining role in airline performance this year, faces renewed uncertainty. US President Donald Trump today declared the fragile ceasefire “over” after the US launched strikes on more than 80 Iranian targets following attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. For airlines, the renewed hostilities threaten to reignite one of the year’s biggest uncertainties, just as jet fuel crack spreads had finally begun to narrow. Like its LCC rivals, Wizz will hope its strong hedge profile will provide protection should volatility return.

Despite these uncertainties, Jones remains confident on summer demand and Wizz’s outlook for the remainder of the year. Beyond Wizz, however, he believes the real test for the airline industry will come this autumn, when summer fuel bills arrive.

"Airlines tend to fail in September. They tend to fail in February. That’s where people will have an eye out to see if there are any casualties.”

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