In a mild surprise, Airbus announced that it has postponed the delivery of the first A320neo (New Engine Option) for a few weeks in order to smooth out a few issues with the Pratt and Whitney engines being used on the aircraft. Airbus is calling the reason for the delay ‘technical complexities’ while Pratt and Whitney refers to the delay as ‘documentation issues’. I do know that one point of contention was the start-up time for each engine. According to LH sources, the engines have an unusually long start-up time of 2.5 to 3.5 minutes. This is believed to be part of the reason for the delivery delay.
Airbus has not provided any specific target date for delivery.
Initially, Qatar was to receive the first A320 but opted out of the delivery due to engine concerns. That opened the door for LH to become the first operator of the A320 but apparently they too are not satisfied with the issues surrounding the engines thus the delay.
Lufthansa had planned to unveil the A320 on its Frankfurt – Hamburg route on January 6 . These plans have now obviously been canceled and no new launch date has been established.
