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Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific Expects A350s Back in Service After Rapid Engine Issue Resolution

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, announced on Wednesday that it anticipates returning its Airbus A350 aircraft to service by the weekend, following an in-flight engine issue that prompted a fleet-wide inspection and the cancellation of dozens of flights.

The issue arose when an engine component failure forced a Zurich-bound A350-1000 to return to Hong Kong on September 2. The aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines. This incident led to an immediate inspection of Cathay Pacific’s A350 fleet, which comprises 48 aircraft, including both the A350-1000 and A350-900 variants.

Cathay Pacific confirmed that 15 of its A350s were found to have engine fuel lines requiring replacement. Of these, six have already been repaired and cleared for operation, with the remaining nine expected to be back in service by Saturday, September 7. The airline noted that repairs were expedited due to the availability of spare parts and the ability to conduct replacements while the engines remained on-wing.

The engine issue resulted in the cancellation of 45 return flights between September 2 and September 7. The majority of these cancellations involved regional flights rather than long-haul routes.

“This was a significant situation for Cathay to manage as the engine component failure was the first of its type to occur on any A350 aircraft anywhere in the world,” said Alex McGowan, Cathay Pacific’s Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer. He commended the airline’s staff for their swift and safe resolution of the issue, highlighting their dedication and capability.

The temporary suspension of Cathay Pacific’s A350 flights impacted shares of engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, which fell 6.5% on Monday. Investors feared a recurrence of the long-standing issues associated with Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000 engines, which had previously cost the company over £2.4 billion ($3 billion). However, shares recovered slightly on Tuesday after analysts suggested the issue was a “quick fix” rather than a deeper design flaw.

Rolls-Royce has stated that it is cooperating with an investigation by Hong Kong authorities and is keeping other airlines that operate the Trent XWB-97 engines fully informed.