Airbus has delayed delivery of an A330-900neo to Condor after a tool was found inside the aircraft’s horizontal tailplane. The discovery prompted additional inspections of selected A330neos and temporarily disrupted the programme’s delivery schedule. Condor is not expected to receive the affected aircraft before November, while Airbus prepares a comprehensive policy for inspections and corrective action for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The issue concerns aircraft built between 2021 and July 2026. Airbus has identified a specific group for additional checks, which operators are being asked to conduct during scheduled maintenance. Aircraft still in production have already undergone inspection.
A tool was discovered inside the horizontal tailplane of a recently delivered A330neo, highlighting a production-quality and foreign-object-control failure in a primary flight-control structure. Airbus paused or delayed deliveries while it assessed the problem and subsequently resumed handovers after determining that the issue should not recur.
The manufacturer is due to present EASA with its full policy by mid-November. The available information does not identify the aircraft registration or indicate how many Condor aircraft are affected.