To date, Wizz Air has taken delivery of five Airbus A321XLRs, three of which are registered in the UK and two in Malta. G-XLRA, its first XLR, has been grounded in Prague since 11 September, when it suffered a serious tail strike after a hard landing at the airport.
The aircraft transporting Prime Minister Orbán is its newest XLR, delivered just three weeks ago. The aircraft, registered G-XLRD, usually flies from London to Jeddah and Medina.
A Wizz Air Airbus A321XLR special aircraft was used to fly Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his delegation to Washington, according to local media reports.
Hungarian delegation to Washington
The Hungarian Prime Minister and his delegation are flying to Washington this week to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House. This will be the sixth traditional bilateral meeting between the two leaders.
Though the Hungarian AirForce has its own VIP Dassault Falcon 7x business aircraft, the Wizz Air Airbus was preferred owing to the size of the delegation, as per reports. The Airbus A321XLR is equipped with 239 seats.
The delegation includes several government officials including Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó.
Wizz Air’s fleet update with Airbus A321XLR
The airline received its first commercial Airbus A321XLR aircraft ealier this year. The airline told Hungarian paper Világgazdaság that it has performed VIP flights on multiple occasions in recent years prior to flying this delegation in its newest addition to the fleet Airbus A321XLR aircraft.
Its preferred Airbus A320neo would not be able to cover the distance as the distance between Budapest and Washington is 7,350 kilometers while the A321neo’s range is limited to 6,300 kilometers. The long-range A321XLR aircraft has a range of 8,700 kilometers.
The long-range GTF-powered A321XLR is equipped with more spacious cabins and provides a 30% reduction in fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions per seat, Wizz Air has said. Earlier this year, with the acquisition of its first such aircraft, the airline had said that this upgrade would allow it to fly longer routes and lower its fares.
So far, the airline has taken the delivery of five A321XLR aircraft. Three of these jets are registered in the United Kingdom while two are registered in Malta, It was recently forced to ground the G-XLRA, its first of these aircraft in Prague after the plane suffered a serious tail strike post a tough landing at the airport. The aircraft that flew the delegation was its latest one, delivered three weeks ago. It was a G-XLRD which usually operates from London to Medina and Jeddah.
For this most recent trip fling Orban and his delegation, Wizz Air had received a special one-time permit from the US authorities allowing it to operate the charter flight.
For more updates on travel and aviation, follow Travel Radar.
