Airbus Racing Against Time to Deliver A320neo

LONDON—Airbus Group SE is struggling to meet an end-of-year deadline to deliver the first of a new generation of single-aisle planes, with Deutsche Lufthansa AG and India's budget carrier Indigo uncertain about when they will get the aircraft.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, scheduled to be the launch operator for the A320neo (new engine option), said Monday it is expects to learn the delivery date in the coming days.

Airbus said that it is "working with full steam" toward delivering the first A320neo to Lufthansa by the end of the year, as promised.

However Indigo, or InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, on Monday said it was notified by Airbus that its first A320neo plane wouldn't arrive as promised on December 30.

The airline said Airbus cited unspecified "industrial reasons" for the delay. Indigo added it was looking to mitigate the potential capacity shortfall.

The A320neo is an upgraded model of Airbus's popular single-aisle plane. The Toulouse-based plane maker said the new model will be 15% more efficient than existing narrowbodies. The A320neo features new engines, which promise to consume less fuel, and other enhancements.

Airbus has previously promised investors it would deliver the first A320neo planes this year. The company wouldn't discuss why deliveries are being delayed.

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

Both the European Aviation Safety Agency and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last month granted so-called type certification for A320neo

planes powered by PW1100G engines from Pratt & Whitney, the engine unit of United Technologies Corp. Those approvals clear the way for plane deliveries.

Airbus has garnered more than 4,400 orders for the A320neo, outselling rival Boeing and its 737 Max, a similar engine upgrade of the Chicago-based company's narrowbody jetliner. Boeing unveiled the first 737 Max this month and plans to start delivering the plane in 2017.

The delivery delays are only the latest hiccup in Airbus's plans to hand over the first A320neo. Qatar Airways was initially due to receive the first plane, but decided to hold off until Pratt & Whitney made some modifications to the engine.

Airbus also is working with a joint venture with General Electric Co. and France's Safran SA on an alternative engine for the A320neo family of jetliners. Planes powered by that engine are due for first customer deliveries next year.

Indigo is by far the largest A320neo customer, with orders for 430 of the planes. Lufthansa has ordered 101 of the upgraded jets, with plans to take 61 A320neo models and 40 of the slightly larger A321neo version, according to Airbus's order book.

Separately, British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA on Monday said it had converted options for 15 A320neo planes into firm orders. The aircraft are due for delivery in 2021 and 2022.

Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 21, 2015 07:35 ET (12:35 GMT)

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