India’s IndiGo gets regulatory nod to wet-lease 11 A320 aircraft – CNBC-TV18

BENGALURU (Reuters) -IndiGo operator Interglobe Aviation has been allowed to wet-lease 11 A320 aircraft, CNBC-TV18 reported on Wednesday, citing sources at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

This comes amid IndiGo grounding nearly 40 planes due to a Pratt & Whitney engine issue, the report said.

Pratt’s owner RTX had on Monday said it would have to pull a total of 600 to 700 engines off their Airbus A320neo jets for lengthy quality inspections between 2023 and 2026.

IndiGo did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

RTX had in July said a rare powder metal defect could lead to the cracking of some engine components and called for accelerated inspections affecting 200 engines by mid-September.

Last month, IndiGo said it was assessing the impact on its fleet due to troubled Pratt & Whitney engines and it expects a fall in yield due to seasonal weakness in the second quarter.

India’s biggest airline by market share posted a profit of 30.87 billion Indian rupees ($372.02 million) for the quarter ended June 30 on strong demand for air travel and a fall in jet fuel prices, compared with a loss of 10.65 billion rupees a year ago.

($1 = 82.9796 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)

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