NEW DELHI: Airbus today said it had detected a quality issue with its A321neo aircraft. IndiGo operates a majority of these planes in India, while Air India also deploys them. Airbus said the issue does not affect safety.
IndiGo presently operates 173 of these aircraft while it has parked ten of them. Air India operates ten of them. It is a narrow body, single aisle aircraft.
In a statement, Airbus said, “We can confirm that during some standard rework, a surface protection deviation on stringers located at the lower front section of the fuselage was identified affecting a number of A321 aircraft.’ The aircraft can continue to operate as it is a quality issue and not a safety issue, the manufacturer added. Fuselage refers to the backbone of an aircraft.
The source of the issue has been identified, contained and a remedy is available, it said.
The statement added, “The rework does not require any disassembly of the stringers. Once rework is applied, the aircraft is considered to be back as if at nominal design.”