In a sudden action, the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority, the Department of aviation safety, issued a directive to Iraq flag carrier "Iraq Airways" to immediately ground its fleet of Airbus A220-300 until further notice. The directive pointed to issues that occurred in two aircraft A220-300 (Reg. YI-ARI / YI-ARG). Even though the directive did not specify the issue that caused the national regulator to grounds the type, Iraq Airways Twitter account mentioned that it's 'serious problems' with two engines of the mentioned aircraft.
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| Iraq Civil Aviation Directive |
All four Iraq Airways A220-300s are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofan engines. So far, Iraq Airways have taken delivery of four A220-300s and expect to receive a fifth jet of the same type. The Iraqi Airways A220 contract was signed in January 2014, while the aircraft was still known as the Bombardier CSeries. It was unveiled as a letter of intent at the Dubai Airshow the year before, and it confirmed the purchase of five CS300s with options for an additional eleven.
Recently, Iraq Airways received four Boeing 737 MAX 8, of which three were delivered together, reaching Bagdad International Airport at the same time. The Middle Eastern airline is expected to receive a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the first out of ten, soon. Iraq Airways management is keen to renew the fleet to be able to increase destinations and give better service.
Go First, India's third-largest airline, declared bankruptcy on Wednesday, alleging issues with Pratt & Whitney's GTF engines. Pratt has denied the claim, claiming that the airline is diverting attention away from more serious financial problems.