Two Airbus A321neo airframes aged just six years old are to be scrapped for parts as the industry continues to grapple with supply chain shortages. The two aircraft flew for IndiGo for almost six years but have now been acquired by aircraft aftermarket firm Setna iO.

Despite being so young and having decades of service life ahead, their value for parts has skyrocketed amid an industry shortage. They will now be broken down and stripped for parts in Castellon, Spain, with some estimates putting the value of each aircraft at over $50 million.

Two Former IndiGo A321neos Headed For Scraphead

Setna iO announced its two acquisitions on its LinkedIn page – the two 2019-built A321neos are equipped with a high gross weight enhanced landing gear, Honeywell GTCP131-9A APUs, GTF nacelles, as well as a “highly upgraded avionics suite.” More importantly, both are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1133G-JM engines, which have been facing significant parts shortages amid the global supply chain bottleneck.

While Setna iO does not specify the tail numbers of either aircraft, data from ch-aviation would suggest the two aircraft in question are presently registered as OE-IHD and OE-IHH, and flew under IndiGo as VT-IUD and VT-IUE. Flightradar24 shows that these two aircraft were ferried to Castellon in early May, with their final commercial flights occurring in late February.

These two jets were delivered to IndiGo on six-year leases from UK-based lessor Deucalion Aviation and departed the airline’s fleet in February 2025. They flew for IndiGo in an all-economy configuration with seating for up to 222 passengers.

Why Are They Being Scrapped So Soon?

With less than six years of active service under their belts, the two airframes’ accumulated flight hours and flight cycles are modest and well below the average life cycle of an A321neo. While there is a global shortage of parts, there is also a shortage of aircraft, which makes the decision to scrap these two airframes rather puzzling.

Ch-aviation lists the market value of the two aircraft at over $43 million each. However, aviation analytics company Cirium’s Global Head of Consultancy, Rob Morris, has estimated the part-out value of each plane at between $45 million and $56.5 million, depending on the condition of each engine. According to Morris, the engines themselves are worth between $15.2 million and $21.4 million.

The market lease rate for such youthful aircraft would be around $350,000 per month, which is around $4.2 million per year. If each jet hypothetically remained in service for another 20 years (taking depreciating rates as it ages into account), each aircraft could probably command upwards of $60-70 million in rental revenue. As Morris speculates, the owner likely favors cashing in on the aircraft now, rather than shouldering the long-term risk in an uncertain economy.

When Will The Parts Shortage Subside?

Airlines and manufacturers have been grappling with supply chain bottlenecks for years now, impacting both aircraft production and maintenance. The A320neo-family has been one of the worst-hit, with scores of global carriers grounding their jets due to issues with obtaining spare parts. For example, in Russia, at least half of the country’s in-service A320neo fleet had been grounded by the end of last year.

Airbus has been sluggish with deliveries due to supply chain snags and doesn’t expect this to let up for at least the next three years. Nonetheless, the A321neo comprised over half of Airbus’ most recent month of deliveries with a total of 35 A321neo deliveries.

However, the planemaker reportedly has over 60 ready-built narrowbody jets sitting in storage due to engine delivery delays, hampering its delivery schedule. The A321neo comes with two engine options – Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G-JM or CFM International’s LEAP-1A – with both enginemakers struggling to deliver engines to Airbus on time.

Stock Code

AIR

Business Type

Planemaker

Date Founded

December 18, 1970

CEO

Guillaume Faury