India to question Airbus\, IndiGo\, others on Pratt & Whitney engine woes: sources

India to question Airbus, IndiGo, others on Pratt & Whitney engine woes: sources

Reuters  |  NEW DELHI 

By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian carriers and GoAir, manufacturer and engine maker will meet Indian civil ministry officials on Tuesday to discuss ongoing issues with engines fitted to A320neo planes, three people familiar with the matter told

IndiGo, India's biggest carrier by market share, and rival were forced to ground A320neo on several occasions over the past year due to problems with the planes' engines.

Recent incidents involved an making an emergency landing on Dec. 11 due to smoke in the cabin. In another case on Jan. 3, an plane had to return to its base due to a technical problem.

The government officials at the meeting may ask the airlines to refrain from putting into service further planes fitted with the engines - and even ground existing ones - until problems are resolved, newspaper reported earlier on Tuesday, citing an unidentified source.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, and did not immediately respond to requests for comment. IndiGo, owned by Interglobe Aviation, and Pratt & Whitney, owned by United Technologies, declined to comment.

IndiGo is Airbus' biggest customer for the A320neo, all of which are fitted with engines. IndiGo and together have over 500 such planes on order.

Airbus in July said it had a backlog of up to 100 A320neo jets on the ground outside factories due to delays in engine deliveries, mainly from Pratt & Whitney.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by and Christopher Cushing)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, January 08 2019. 15:30 IST