Jazeera Airways (J9, Kuwait) has deferred placing an order for up to 25 narrowbody jets to mid-2020 as it is unhappy with the delivery delays currently affecting Airbus, Chief Executive Rohit Ramachandran told Reuters.

"We are not happy with the delays that are occurring in the production line and I think Airbus is very aware of our position. I don't see a major improvement. I think they continue to have unplanned delays in production," he clarified.

Though he avoided going into detail, Ramachandran did say that the order could include long-range variants of new generation narrowbody jets.

While the Kuwaiti boutique carrier has considered placing a new order for a couple of months now, the CEO underlined that there was no rush. Jazeera Airways will only place the order in time and on terms that will "make its shareholders rich" rather than Airbus' or Boeing's shareholders, he added.

For the time being, the airline is growing its fleet using aircraft sourced from lessors. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, it currently operates nine A320-200s and two A320-200neo, with a further two A320neo expected to deliver shortly. Deliveries of some lessor-sourced A320neo were delayed earlier this year, forcing Jazeera Airways to defer some network expansion plans.