India’s GoAir plans to take delivery of first A320neo in May

Mumbai-based GoAir plans to take delivery of its first Airbus A320neo in May if it is confident in the performance of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan (GTF) engines powering the aircraft. The carrier, which currently operates a fleet of 19 A320s, has 72 A320neos on order (all set to be powered by GTFs) and confirmed to ATW that it is slated to take delivery of eight A320neos by May 2017. But the airline is concerned about the startup restrictions currently imposed on GTF-powered A320neos. Qatar Airways backed out as the planned A320neo launch operator late last year owing to the restrictions and Lufthansa, which became the replacement launch customer, told ATW that it agreed to accept its second A320neo only after reaching a compensation deal with Airbus. Lufthansa has said it won’t accept its third A320neo until it is satisfied that hardware and software fixes being made by Pratt on the GTF are sufficient to allow it to operate the aircraft “throughout our European network and not only on domestic routes,” a Lufthansa spokesperson said. <br/>