Airbus has been compelled to reduce the pace of A330neo deliveries after a foreign object was discovered lodged within the tail structure of an aircraft still on the production line, according to an individual with knowledge of the matter.

"We can confirm that a single quality issue was recently identified in the horizontal tailplane of an A330 aircraft," the company stated in an emailed announcement. "As a result, inspections were carried out on A330 units in the production flow, which led to a slowdown in the monthly delivery rate during the summer months. The root cause has now been identified, and deliveries of the A330 have resumed."

The European planemaker did not hand over any A330 jets during June or July. Data expected to be released next week is projected to show that Airbus delivered a total of 57 aircraft in August, with only a single A330 among that tally.

The source indicated that the issue involved a tool that had been left behind inside the aircraft's structure, a problem that came to light during a pre-delivery inspection procedure.