Cathay Pacific to examine Airbus A350 fleet after ‘engine part failure’

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Cathay Pacific mentioned it had began an inspection of its total fleet of Airbus A350 plane as a “precautionary measure” following an engine drawback on one among its long-haul jets.

The Hong Kong-based provider mentioned on Monday it had recognized an “engine part failure” in a Zurich-bound A350 plane that pressured the aircraft to return to Hong Kong. The engines for the wide-body aircraft are made by Rolls-Royce however the airline didn’t specify the part in query.

Shares in Rolls-Royce, the only real supplier of engines for A350 jets, fell 6.5 per cent in London on the information. Airbus shares have been down 1.6 per cent.

Cathay mentioned it was the primary of its variety to have failed on any A350 worldwide.

“This part was the primary of its sort to undergo such failure on any A350 plane worldwide,” mentioned Cathay in a press release. “We’ve recognized plenty of the identical engine parts that must be changed, spare components have been secured and restore work is beneath manner.”

The inspection of Cathay’s fleet of 48 A350 plane means passengers will face delays and cancellations within the coming days. The airline has cancelled not less than 24 return flights as much as Tuesday.

Though the reason for the issue isn’t but identified, trade executives will likely be watching the scenario intently after a latest string of points with plane engines which have confirmed disruptive and pricey to airways.

Rolls-Royce’s Trent XWB engines energy each variants of the A350: its XWB-84 engine powers the smaller A350-900 variant, whereas its XWB-97 engine powers the bigger mannequin, the A350-1000.

Rolls-Royce mentioned it was “conscious of an incident involving Cathay Pacific flight CX383 from Hong Kong to Zurich” and confirmed that the plane was powered by Trent XWB-97 engines.

The corporate mentioned it was “dedicated to working intently with the airline, plane producer and the related authorities to help their investigation into this incident” however declined to remark additional.

Airbus referred inquiries to Rolls-Royce and the airline, saying it was conscious of the scenario. Europe’s aviation regulator EASA mentioned it might be “monitoring any info popping out of the technical investigation”, including that it might take “choices on any fleet stage motion as required”.

There are 86 A350-1000 jets in operation globally, in accordance with Airbus information to the tip of July. Cathay is among the largest operators of A350s, together with 18 A350-1000.

Different massive A350-1000 operators embody Qatar Airways, BA and Virgin Atlantic. All three airways have been contacted for remark.