Iraqi Airways temporarily grounded its Airbus A220 fleet on orders from the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA), the body in charge of regulating activity in the country, due to problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines that power the aircraft.
See also: Amid Engine Issues, Lufthansa Group Grounds a Third of SWISS’ Airbus A220 Fleet
Iraqi Airways grounds its Airbus A220 fleet
In a document sent on Wednesday, the regulator said the operator should «ground all aircraft» of the type «immediately and until further notice» and «pending completion of investigation procedures». It also urged the airline to report on the procedure «as soon as possible».
Iraqi Airways currently operates four A220-300, the largest variant of the family. In the text, the regulator specifically referred to two of them: the airplanes registered as YI-ARG and YI-ARI (delivered last January). According to ch-aviation, the latter was the only one active at the time of the decision. The other three were already grounded.
Other carriers are also affected
Iraq’s national airline thus joined a growing number of operators facing problems with Pratt & Whitney products. Airlines around the world are affected by shortages of engines and spare parts, especially for their latest-generation narrow-body aircraft.
The Airbus A220 is powered exclusively by Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines, which reduces the alternatives to maintenance issues. Many users of the powerplant have reported problems, and the manufacturer has delayed repair schedules due to difficulties in providing spare parts as its own suppliers struggle with a backlog of sub-component orders.
This week, Lufthansa Group temporarily grounded a third of SWISS’ Airbus A220 fleet. For its parte, EgyptAir is grounding seven aircraft for the same reason, while Air Senegal’s sole A220 is also inoperative.
See also: airBaltic leases more aircraft due to engine problems with the A220
