Air Astana announces settlement with Pratt & Whitney

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Air Astana announces settlement with Pratt & Whitney

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Air Astana Group has reached a settlement with Pratt & Whitney in connection to its PW1100G engines fitted to the carrier’s A320-200neo aircraft.

In a Kazakhstan Stock Exchange filing on March 27, the Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) and FlyArystan parent said the settlement “will help address costs and will supplement the existing range of robust operational initiatives to address these issues in a sustainable manner.” It did not disclose a figure on the settlement.

The engine type powers the group’s twenty-nine A320neo Family aircraft. The company said it expects to have 34 engine removals throughout 2024.

“To mitigate the ongoing maintenance issues concerning the PW1100G engines, Air Astana Group has five spare engines and plans to obtain six additional engines by 2028,” a January 2024 preliminary prospectus reads. “Furthermore, Air Astana Group has access to Pratt & Whitney’s pool of spare engines.”

The module reveals that the PW1100G is fitted to thirteen A320-200Ns, four A321-200Ns, and twelve A321-200NX(LR)s among the group’s fleet. Eight of the A320-200Ns operate on behalf of FlyArystan with the remainder flying for Air Astana. Six of the A320-200Ns are currently out of service.

The settlement draws a line under Air Astana Group’s second major engine dispute in as many years. In February 2023, the company withdrew an appeal at the New York Supreme Court after it lost a 2021 damages claim against Embraer. Alleging five E190-E2s delivered on lease from AerCap in 2018 were unsafe to fly, it grounded the planes and sued Embraer for breaches of contract and warranty. However, the court dismissed Air Astana’s claim for damages in September 2022. Air Astana appealed that decision before deciding to withdraw it.

Separately, this week’s stock exchange filing disclosed that Air Astana Group had executed a purchase agreement with International Aero Engines for a sixth spare PW1100 engine. IAE will deliver it in April and the transaction is “aligned with the airline’s engine issue mitigation planning.” The group further advised that it had signed a lease for two A320-200s to help offset the capacity issues caused by the out-of-service A320neo. Those two aircraft are due to arrive in the first quarter of 2025.


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