Pratt & Whitney says finds solution for Airbus engine issues

(Reuters) - Engine maker Pratt & Whitney said on Wednesday it has found a solution to the issues that had caused delays in supplying engines to European planemaker Airbus SE <AIR.PA>, grounding some A320neo jets.

Pratt, part of United Technologies Corp <UTX.N>, said its solution to the "knife-edge seal" issue was based on a design with which it had "significant experience," without giving further details.

Reuters had reported earlier on Wednesday that the company was likely to return to a previous seal as a way of temporarily dealing with the issue that safety authorities warned could shutdown a plane's engine mid-flight.

Some A320neo deliveries were halted after problems arose in January, which Pratt has said stems from an engineering change it made last summer to the "knife-edge seal" in the high-pressure compressor near the rear of the engine.

Pratt said it will restart engine deliveries in early March.

Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said last week that deliveries to customers should resume in April.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan and Tim Hepher, additional reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton and Savio D'Souza)