Bottlenecks in the supply chain continue to cause problems for airlines, particularly relating to the supply of seating for the premium cabins.

France-based Safran, for example, has reported a 25 per cent fall in deliveries of business class seats in Q1 as some shipments had slipped in to the second quarter.  Business class seat deliveries were down to 242 units from 324 in Q1 2023. The first quarter results for the company notes that a main risk factor remains the supply chain production capabilities.

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CEO Olivier Andriès said: “We remain focused on meeting our customer commitments and mitigating short term challenges and are confident to deliver our financial performance for the year.”

There have been reports of aircraft being delivered, but immediately being put into storage because of a lack of interior parts ready to fit. Lufthansa recently received two brand new A350-900s but immediately parked them at the storage facility at Spain’s Teruel Airport, apparently due to the seat suppliers running late on deliveries.

Guillaume Faury, Airbus chief executive, said the company was still struggling with supplies of many parts of the aircraft interior, not just seats  “It reflects the diversity of the difficulties and challenges in the supply chain,” he said in a recent article with London’s Financial Times.

While a lack of materials and people to make the seats, the main reason for delayed shipments is issues around certification according to industry analysts.