Key facts
- Airbus identified a quality issue on the horizontal tail plane of an A330 jet.
- A stray tool was found in the tail section of an aircraft in production.
- A330neo deliveries were slowed over the summer due to the issue.
- Airbus has identified the root cause and resumed deliveries.
- Starlux Airlines received the first A330-900 after the delivery resumption.
Airbus temporarily slowed deliveries of its A330 jetliner after discovering a quality issue with the aircraft's horizontal tail plane. The manufacturer confirmed that the 'isolated quality issue' required additional inspections during production, leading to a halt in handovers for several months. Deliveries have since resumed after the root cause was identified and addressed. The interruption impacted the delivery flow, with only one A330neo delivered between June and August, compared to nine in the preceding three months. Despite the disruption, Airbus expects to deliver around 870 commercial aircraft in 2026. The A330neo program has a substantial backlog of approximately 396 aircraft. The quality issue does not appear to affect A330neos already in service with airlines.