Factbox: What are airlines doing in response to Cathay Pacific's Airbus A350 engine failure

StarLux Airlines

04/09/2024 12:35

By Anna Chaberska and Alban Kacher
       Sept 4 (Reuters) - Several airlines are carrying out
precautionary inspections on their Airbus  AIR.PA  A350 fleets
after Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific  0293.HK  found 15 planes that
needed fuel line repairs following the in-flight failure of an
engine part on Monday.
    The issue occurred on a five-year-old Airbus A350-1000,
which uses Rolls-Royce's  RR.L  Trent XWB-97 engines, but
carriers are also inspecting the more popular A350-900 aircraft
which use a different engine model.
    Here is what airlines are doing, divided by the model of the
aircraft:
    
    A350-1000
    Cathay Pacific identified 15 aircraft that required
replacement of engine components and six have already been
repaired, while the remaining nine will be fixed by Saturday. It
did not specify which models were being repaired.
    Japan Airlines (JAL)  9201.T , which has five new
A350-1000s, said it had conducted three engine inspections by
Tuesday and found them to be safe. The two remaining planes were
to be checked on Wednesday.
    Qatar Airways said the issue had no impact on its 24
A350-1000 aircraft and it would continue to monitor any
developments.
    British Airways, which has 18 A350-1000s, and Virgin
Atlantic, which operates 12, were not immediately available for
comment.
    
    A350-900
    A spokesperson for JAL said the Tokyo-based carrier was also
inspecting its A350-900 aircraft as a precaution and no problems
had been found so far.
    Air China  601111.SS , a major A350-900 operator, will
perform general engine checks, reported Caixin, a Chinese
business and economics publication.
    Singapore Airlines  SIAL.SI , which has a fleet of 63
A350-900 planes, said it was inspecting the engines on its
aircraft but there was no impact on flights.
    Taiwan's Starlux  2646.TWO , which operates six A350-900,
said it had contacted Rolls-Royce "out of caution" and was
awaiting an official reply.
    Air France  AIRF.PA  and Lufthansa Group  LHAG.DE , which
also have A350-900s, told Reuters they were in touch with
Rolls-Royce and Airbus and were monitoring the situation
closely.
    Delta Air Lines  DAL.N , which has 28 A350-900s, and Thai
Airways  THAI.BK , which has 23 of them, were not immediately
available for comment.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EXPLAINER-What is the issue with Cathay Pacific's A350
Rolls-Royce engines?     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3KL00L
Cathay Pacific A350 fleet to resume full service by Saturday
after repairs     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3KM0IZ
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Compiled by Alban Kacher and Anna Chaberska in Gdansk; editing
by Milla Nissi)
 ((alban.kacher@thomsonreuters.com;
anna.chaberska@thomsonreuters.com))