HONG KONG: Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has axed another 22 flights over an engine component failure uncovered in its Airbus A350 fleet, bringing the number of cancellations this week to 90.
Confirming the Post’s report, the airline said 22 flights would be cancelled between Thursday (Sept 5) and Saturday, and no further cuts were expected. The carrier earlier axed 48 flights on Tuesday and 20 on Wednesday.
The company said on Wednesday it had identified 15 aircraft out of its 48-strong A350 fleet that had engine fuel lines requiring replacement, with six of the aircraft already repaired and cleared to operate. The remaining nine would be repaired and were expected to resume operation by Saturday.
The discovery of the issue with the Trent XWB-97 engines, which are manufactured by UK-based Rolls-Royce, also triggered inspections by other airlines using the same model.
The engine is used on the relatively young Cathay A350 fleet, including 18 of the A350-1000 aircraft that are 4.6 years old on average.
The other 30 planes in the fleet are A350-900s with an average age of 6.2 years.
Cathay said all the cancelled flights were for regional destinations, apart from a long-haul service from Hong Kong to Zurich on Monday.
“Cathay Pacific sincerely apologises for the inconvenience caused and appreciates customers’ patience and understanding,” it said.
The carrier also confirmed the Post’s report on the fuel lines of engines being a root cause of the fleet’s grounding for inspection, but did not elaborate further.
A source told the Post earlier that multiple small fuel manifolds surrounded an aircraft engine for fuel delivery and Cathay’s inspection revealed a number of pipes exhibited some “form of distortion”, which was behind the engine part failure.
Once the deformed fuel lines were replaced, the planes could resume service, the insider said, adding the carrier was under “no mandate” from the manufacturer or any regulator to inspect or replace the pipes.
“These parts are not intended to be checked or replaced during regular maintenance on the line. So it is not in any way a maintenance failure or oversight,” the source said.
Cathay’s chief operations and service delivery officer, Alex McGowan, said the engine component failure was the first of its type to occur on an A350 aircraft anywhere in the world.
“Completing thorough inspection and maintenance for all A350 aircraft within such a short time frame has been challenging,” he said. “I would also like to extend my apology to customers whose travel plans were affected by this incident.”
The fuel line issue triggered major operators of A350 planes to conduct their own inspections.
Airbus A350-1000 planes are powered by Rolls-Royce’s Trent XWB-97 engine, while A350-900s use a different engine from the same manufacturer.
According to flight data provider Cirium, 87 A350-1000 passenger planes are currently in service with the Trent XWB-97 engine.
Qatar Airways operates the most with a fleet of 24, followed by Cathay Pacific with 18 and British Airways with 17.
Japan Airlines on Wednesday said it had decided to conduct precautionary inspections during scheduled maintenance of its five A350-1000 aircraft, which began on Tuesday at Haneda Airport. It did not expect any flight delays or cancellations.
The Tokyo-based carrier said it was awaiting further information from Rolls-Royce.
Singapore Airlines, which operates 64 A350-900 aircraft, also said it would check all the engines as a precaution and would stay in contact with Airbus and Rolls-Royce, stressing flights would not be affected. - South China Morning Post
