PARIS, July 31 (Reuters) - Aircraft parts maker Howmet Aerospace supplies a key component at the centre of recent delays in LEAP jet engine production, the head of one of the engine-maker's parent companies said on Wednesday.

Supplies of high-pressure turbine blades for the engines were disrupted when the production yield - or share of output that meets quality targets - fell in April and May, but the yields have partially recovered in recent weeks, Safran CEO Olivier Andries told reporters.

Howmet could not immediately be reached for comment out of U.S. office hours.

Safran and GE Aerospace jointly own CFM International, the world's largest jet engine maker by volume, whose LEAP engines power all Boeing 737s and about half of the competing Airbus A320 family.

Airbus last month cut aircraft delivery forecasts and slowed its production ramp-up after problems with supplies of LEAP engines and other components, such as landing gear.

On Tuesday, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said it had been "blind-sided" by the shortfall in deliveries of LEAP engines, which come on top of longstanding but separate industrial problems affecting competing Pratt & Whitney engines.

Andries said CFM had also been surprised by the drop in its supplier's industrial performance, but added it was on the way to being resolved.

The high-pressure turbine blades are a critical part of the hot inner section of the LEAP engine for which GE Aerospace is responsible under the share of work in the French-U.S. CFM engine partnership, which turns 50 this year.

Last week GE Aerospace said it had made progress with a number of suppliers but that new engine output, which fell 20% in the second quarter from the previous quarter, had not recovered in May as hoped.

It reiterated that the supply of materials was a key constraint.

Shares in Howmet rose 13% on Tuesday after the Pennsylvania-based company lifted annual forecasts, driven by strong demand for engine products and fastening systems. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Louise Heavens and Clarence Fernandez)