IAG chief executive Willie Walsh has described as "unacceptable" the Airbus A321 delivery delays that forced Aer Lingus to postpone the launch of a Montreal service.
Walsh, who was speaking during an IAG second-quarter results briefing today, noted that the "ongoing delays" were affecting deliveries of A321s from Airbus's Hamburg factory.
In March, IAG's Irish subsidiary said it would launch its Dublin-Montreal route in summer 2020, rather than August 2019 as previously planned.
Delivery of Aer Lingus's first A321LR jets was disclosed on 29 July. The jet, one of eight being supplied to the carrier by Air Lease, is powered by CFM International Leap-1A engines and fitted with a two-class cabin featuring 16 business-class and 168 economy-class seats.
Aer Lingus will use its A321LR fleet to serve Hartford and Minneapolis as well as Montreal.
The carrier also has on order six jets of the A321's longest-range variant, the XLR.
During today's results call, Walsh praised Aer Lingus's "strong" transatlantic performance and welcomed the launch of its Minneapolis route.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
