Airbus says ready to enforce rights over Pratt & Whitney engine dispute

PARIS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The head of European planemaker Airbus said on Thursday it stood ready to "enforce our contractual rights" in a dispute with Pratt & Whitney over engine supplies and confirmed that rival engine supplier CFM was not able to fill the gap this year.

"We are very dissatisfied and we don't agree with it," CEO Guillaume Faury told analysts, referring to the allocation that Pratt & Whitney was willing to supply to Airbus AIR.PA. He did not say whether Airbus envisaged legal action to enforce its rights.

Pratt & Whitney parent RTX RTX.N declined to comment. It has previously said it has sharply increased overall deliveries and is striving to find a balance between the competing demands of new aircraft production and maintenance of the existing fleet.