Cathay Pacific Cancels Flights, Inspects Airbus A350 Fleet After Engine Issues — 2nd Update

By Kimberley Kao

Cathay Pacific has canceled dozens of flights as it inspects and repairs its fleet of Airbus A350 jets after discovering engine issues on one of the planes during a flight to Switzerland.

The Hong Kong airline said in a statement Tuesday that it has completed inspections of its 48 Airbus A350 jets.

Cathay identified 15 aircraft with affected engine components that require replacement and three have been repaired so far, it said. The remaining affected jets will remain out of service until they are repaired and cleared for operation, it added.

Cathay has canceled some flights between Hong Kong and Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei and Japan due to the inspections, according to the carrier's website. No further flight cancellations for Tuesday are expected beyond what has been announced, but it expects to cancel 10 additional return flights on Wednesday, though long-haul services shouldn't be affected, Cathay said in its Tuesday update.

"We expect that all affected aircraft will resume operations by Saturday," the airline said, adding that further details on any remaining cancellations until then will be provided by Wednesday afternoon.

The inspections came after Cathay identified an "engine component failure" on a flight bound for Zurich that was forced to return to Hong Kong on Monday. The component "was the first of its type to suffer such failure on any A350 aircraft worldwide," the carrier said, but didn't specify the engine part.

The Zurich-bound A350-1000 plane performed two wide circles over the sea less than half an hour after taking off, then returned to Hong Kong where it landed safely around 75 minutes after its departure, according to flight-tracking site FlightRadar24.

Cathay said it decided to inspect its A350 fleets as a "precautionary measure."

Airbus said in an emailed response that it is aware of the situation and is in touch with Rolls-Royce--the manufacturer of the engine for the A350 jets--as well as Cathay Pacific, and referred to both companies for further comment.

In response to a request for comment, Rolls-Royce confirmed that the Zurich-bound aircraft was powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, noting that an investigation focusing on generating safety data and information has been launched in Hong Kong.

Rolls-Royce said it "is committed to working closely with the airline, aircraft manufacturer and the relevant authorities to support their efforts."

"As well as providing support and guidance to Cathay Pacific, Rolls-Royce will also keep other airlines that operate Trent XWB-97 engines fully informed of any relevant developments as appropriate," the company said.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said Tuesday that it is in contact with Airbus and Rolls-Royce. "We will be monitoring any information coming out of the technical investigation and will take decisions on any fleet level action as required," the agency said.

Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 03, 2024 03:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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