Wizz Air: Taking climate data to new heights

A company with a clear destination

Wizz Air is a European ultra-low-cost-airline headquartered in Hungary. The company operates 250 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, connecting nearly 200 destinations across 55 countries.Its fleet has an average age of 4.6 years. In the financial year 2025, the airline reported carbon emissions of 52.2 grams per revenue passenger kilometre (RPK), the lowest among major European competitors.*
 

An industry with responsibility

Air travel is inherently carbon-intensive, which gives the aviation industry a responsibility for taking climate action. For Wizz Air, reducing emissions per passenger while maintaining affordable mobility is a complex challenge.

The company faces several factors beyond its immediate control, such as the limited availability and high costs of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), the slow pace of new aircraft technologies, and the evolving regulatory frameworks across different markets. As a result, Wizz Air focuses on practical, data-driven measures to reduce emissions per pessenger today, while preparing for long-term technological advances.

Wizz Air sought an experienced partner for reliable emissions data and transparent carbon reporting.
 

Transparency as the foundation for climate action

Accurate data is central to effective carbon data management. Through its collaboration with ClimatePartner, Wizz Air ensures that its carbon calculations are consistent, robust, and aligned with current standards. This enables the airline to monitor emissions more precisely year-to-year.
 

Concrete measures to reduce carbon intensity

To reduce carbon emissions per passenger kilometre, Wizz Air focuses on three key pillars**:

1. Fleet renewal
A key focus is the continuous renewal of the fleet with modern, fuel-efficient aircraft. Compared to the A321ceo, the A321neo achieves lower fuel burn and carbon emissions per seat. According to Airbus, it reduces fuel consumption by around 10%, with the synergy of new-generation engines and Airbus Sharklet™ wing-tip devices improving per-seat efficiency by up to 20%. By the end of the financial year 2025, 66% of the fleet featured this “neo” technology.

2. Operational efficiency
Efficiency improvements are part of day-to-day operations: optimised flight planning, lighter components, and fuel-saving procedures such as single-engine taxiing and adjusted wing settings during take-off to reduce drag together reduce fuel use by about 2.15% on an ongoing bases. Wizz Air also uses data analysis and AI-supported tools by StokJet to identify further savings in real time.

3. Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)
Large-scale SAF use is still limited, but Wizz Air is supporting its development. The airline has invested in two research and development projects: Firefly in the UK, which develops fuel from sewage sludge, and CleanJoule in the US, focused on scalable SAF technology. In addition, Wizz Air works with suppliers such as OMV, Neste, Mabanaft/P2X, and Cepsa to prepare for future blending mandates and secure long-term access to alternative fuels.

Progress toward their 2030 target is reviewed annually through carbon/RPK reporting (carbon emissions per passenger kilometre) based on consistent data verified by ClimatePartner.
 

Data foundation and next steps

With its calculated carbon footprint, Wizz Air defined a decarbonisation roadmap using the financial year 2024 as its baseline. ClimatePartner’s carbon accounting provided the foundation for setting this reference year.

The airline tracks its emissions annually and reports publicly on its carbon intensity. Wizz Air continued to rank among Europe’s most efficient airlines.***

Going forward, the priority is to meet regulatory requirements while progressively increasing SAF use as availability improves and continuing to enhance operational efficiency through technology and data. Reliable metrics and transparent reporting remain key. 

* Based on the most recent publicly disclosed emissions intensity data for financial year 2025. Please note that due to variations in reporting periods, the figures and timeframes may not be fully aligned.

** Carbon intensity is a key environmental performance metric used by airlines to measure the efficiency of their operations in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. It is defined as: CO₂ emissions per Revenue Passenger Kilometre (CO₂/RPK). This means the grams of CO₂ emitted for every kilometre flown by a paying passenger.

*** Based on the most recent publicly disclosed emissions intensity data for financial year 2025 and industry recognition by Cirium and Airline Economics.