Airbus Delays A320neo Delivery To IndiGo

Airbus has told India's Indigo that it will not deliver its first A320neo on time because of "industrial reasons."

InterGlobe Aviation, IndiGo's parent company, said in a statement at the weekend that it had received notification from Airbus about the delay on December 17.

"IndiGo does not have clear visibility of its future A320neo delivery schedule and the potential for additional delays exist," InterGlobe Aviation said.

"We are looking at mitigating the potential shortfall in capacity through other options."

Airbus said earlier this month that Lufthansa would take the first delivery of the jet after Qatar Airways expressed concern over technical restrictions on the aircraft's Pratt & Whitney engines.

"We are in discussions with our first customers on their delivery milestones," an Airbus spokesman said. "What counts is that we deliver a service-ready A320neo for our customers."

IndiGo agreed the purchase of 250 A320neos in August, handing Airbus its largest-ever order by number of planes, and took its total A320-family orders to 530. The airline was due to take delivery of the first aircraft on December 30.

This would have been one of the first deliveries of the updated A320neo. Industry sources said the aircraft would now be delivered a few weeks late, probably in January.

IndiGo, which today operates around 100 aircraft, had previously ordered 180 A320neos in 2011.