Budget carrier IndiGo Airlines announced on Sunday that it A320 Neo aircraft that operated on the Bengaluru-Delhi route earlier in the day was withdrawn here for a maintenance check to attend to a reported defect.
The airline, in a statement, described the exercise as a maintenance check that was conducted as part of a programme of early detection.
"An A320 neo aircraft that operated Bengaluru-Delhi today morning was proactively withdrawn in Delhi for a maintenance check to attend to a pilot-reported defect. These maintenance checks are part of a comprehensive program of early detection," it said.
"During the maintenance check, metal chips were observed on 1 Engine, 3 Bearing Chip detector, which is a known concern on the Neo engine."
Following this, Indigo announced temporary grounding of another A320 Neo aircraft that operated on the Delhi-Srinagar route at Srinagar following detection of a hydraulic leak in an engine.
The airline, in a statement, said the defect has been rectified and the aircraft is now fit to fly.
"An A320 Neo aircraft that operated Delhi-Srinagar was cleared after maintenance checks upon arrival at Srinagar airport. However, during engine start, the pilot-in-command observed a hydraulic (not oil) leakage from engine 2.
"The aircraft was immediately withdrawn to investigate the hydraulic leak. The issue has been rectified and the aircraft is now fit to fly," it said.
The airline also announced another slew of flight cancellations due to the grounding of its airlines. Around 122 flights scheduled between March 16-31 have been cancelled. They include flights to and from Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Jammu, Bhubaneswar, Jammu, Amristar, Goa, Coimbatore, Indore, Kochi, Mangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi, Raipur, Visakhapatnam, among others.
There are a few international flights from Muscat and to Sharjah that have been cancelled as well. Check the full list of cancelled flights here.
Wth IANS inputs