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

StarLux Airlines

05/09/2024 06:15

(Updates with latest JAL, Delta and Thai comment)
    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 on Thursday it had inspected those engines and
found no defects. 
    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 as of
Thursday 10 of its 15 aircraft had been inspected with no
defects found. 
    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 30 A350-900s, said the
airline runs its global operation "with the high standard of
care for safety, reliability and care that we always do."
    Thai Airways  THAI.BK , which has 23 of them, said its
technicians continuously review the situation and make engine
checks regularly. 

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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 and Stephen Coates)
 ((alban.kacher@thomsonreuters.com;
anna.chaberska@thomsonreuters.com))