New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS): IndiGo on Thursday said that following additional information on powder metal issue from Pratt & Whitney and based on the airline's preliminary assessment, it is anticipated that Aircraft on Ground (AOG) to be in the range of mid thirties in the fourth quarter (January-March 2024) due to accelerated engine removals.

"These groundings will be incremental to the current AOGs," said an airline official.

Earlier this year, Pratt & Whitney highlighted the impact of the powder metal issue that has affected its new general GTF aircraft engine.

"Globally, we understand that a large number of incremental engines ranging between 600-700 are being removed for accelerated inspections and shop visits between 2023 and 2026 and two thirds of these engine removals are planned for 2023 and early 2024.

"During our recent Q2 earnings call, IndiGo had already indicated a likely increase in the number of engine removals in Q4 (Jan-Mar '24) leading to a higher number of groundings in light of this powder metal issue,” said the airline spokesperson.

"Based on this recent information as received, we can reconfirm our given capacity guidance for Q3 (Oct-Dec23). In addition, we also confirm our earlier capacity guidance for the entire FY23-24 'in the North of mid-teens' significantly aided by proactive mitigation measures taken earlier by IndiGo," the spokesperson added.