The Director of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, Dinh Viet Thang, has issued an Instruction on compliance and implementation of the urgent technical notice for the PW1100 engine on A321NEO aircraft operated by Vietnamese airlines.
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Based on the evaluation results of the Aircraft Operations Safety Team for Airbus A321NEO aircraft equipped with PW1100G engines, Director Dinh Viet Thang requires Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet to strictly comply with and implement all content of the urgent technical notice for PW1000G-C-72-00-0224-00A-930A-D, PW1000G-C-72-00-0225-00A-930A-D engines, and subsequent updated versions as specified by the manufacturer for PW1100 engines on Airbus A321NEO aircraft.
Director Dinh Viet Thang requires Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet to report on the results and implementation plans to the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority before February 15, 2024.
Previously, on November 3, 2023, Pratt & Whitney, the American aircraft engine manufacturer, issued an urgent technical notice to be effective from January 1, 2024, in order to timely detect abnormal malfunctions from the production process of PW1100 engines on Airbus A321NEO aircraft with serial numbers PW1000G-C-72-00-0224-00A-930A-D and PW1000G-C-72-00-0225-00A-930A-D.
It is known that Pratt & Whitney will recall approximately 3,000 A320Neo aircraft engines from airlines worldwide in 2024 to conduct technical inspections to ensure the operational capability of this model.
According to Deputy Director of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority Ho Minh Tan, Vietnam has 42 Airbus A321 NEO aircraft subject to the suspension of operations for engine inspections as stated in Pratt & Whitney’s notice. Among them, Vietnam Airlines has 20 aircraft and Vietjet has 24 aircraft.
Vietnam Airlines CEO Le Hong Ha said this will affect the airline’s operations.
Due to the disruption of the supply chain, the repair time is prolonged. Previously, this process usually took about 75-90 days, but now it will extend to over 200 days. Vietnam Airlines is managing the time to ensure that engines are serviced and put into operation as quickly as possible.
Vietnam Airlines has leased 4 wet-leased aircraft (both aircraft and crew) to meet high peak transport demand during Tet holiday.
At the same time, in 2024, Vietnam Airlines will continue to monitor and implement aircraft fleet planning options. In the year, Vietnam Airlines will receive an additional 2 Boeing 787-10 aircraft and 3 Airbus A350 aircraft. Vietnam Airlines will lease both wet-leased and dry-leased aircraft and closely monitor market developments to actively manage operations in 2024.
