Lufthansa says takes delivery of second A320neo

BERLIN (Reuters) - Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) has taken delivery of a second Airbus (AIR.PA) A320neo, it said on Thursday, but the German airline also said engine issues which had delayed its taking delivery of the plane were not yet fully resolved.

Lufthansa stepped in as the first operator of the A320neo after it was found that the Geared Turbofan engines made by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N), needed longer than usual to start under some circumstances.

As a result, Lufthansa is only operating its first A320neo on routes within Germany, where it has a large base of engineers. The second aircraft will also be used only on German domestic routes for now. It took delivery of its first A320neo in January.

A Lufthansa spokeswoman said that a working group from Airbus and Pratt & Whitney was still investigating the problems, but the German carrier had come to an arrangement with Airbus over compensating for the restrictions on operation.

She declined to specify the nature of the compensation, but said the jet was absolutely safe and was flying well.

The German carrier's second A320neo will be based in Frankfurt and operate its first commercial flight on Friday, to the German city of Duesseldorf.

Lufthansa is due to receive five A320neos in total this year, with the third due in summer and the next two in the autumn.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Harro ten Wolde and Jane Merriman)