Singapore's Scoot looking into extending A320ceo lease due to Pratt engine issues

Prataap Snacks

09/11/2023 08:33

By Chen Lin
       SINGAPORE, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines
 SIAL.SI  low-cost subsidiary Scoot is considering extending the
lease of some Airbus  AIR.PA  A320ceo aircraft due to problems
with their Pratt & Whitney engines, Chief Executive Leslie Thng
said.
    "We have some flex in terms of the A320ceos that we are
returning next year in 2024, so we are exploring whether we
should maybe extend some of the leases to mitigate the impact,"
Thng told reporters ahead of the Association of Asia Pacific
Airlines' annual meeting, which starts on Thursday in Singapore.
    As at end-September, Scoot said it has 20 A320ceo aircraft
on its fleet. It was not immediately clear how many aircraft
were leased and how many leases were being looked into.
    Thng said four affected engines had led to two aircraft
being grounded. The airline was aiming to fix one of these
aircraft by the end of the month, he added.
    Pratt & Whitney parent RTX  RTX.N  said in July a rare
powder metal defect could lead to the cracking of some engine
components and called for accelerated inspections.
    The checks are expected to lead to groundings of 600-700 of
Airbus jets between 2023 and 2026, with two-thirds of the engine
removals planned for 2023 and early 2024.

 (Reporting by Chen Lin in Singapore; editing by Miral Fahmy)
 ((Lin.Chen@tr.com; Twitter @chenlin_sg;))