Hong Kong's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways on Tuesday, September 3, said it identified 15 planes in its Airbus A350 fleet with affected engine components that require replacement, of which three have already been fixed, during an inspection that has resulted in the grounding of all the carrier's flights involving the aircraft.
The remaining affected fleet continues to be out of service, which the carrier expects will resume operation by September 7.
One A350 aircraft was observed near Terminal One at Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday (September 3). The airport information board also showed cancellations of flights to Singapore and Tokyo, all of which were scheduled to use the Airbus A350-900.
Cathay Pacific has not disclosed specifics regarding the failed engine component, but noted that this was the first failure of its kind on any A350 aircraft globally. An insider, who chose to remain anonymous, revealed to Reuters that the incident involved an issue with a fuel nozzle in a XWB-97 engine, the specific Rolls-Royce model installed in the A350-1000.
REUTERS VIDEO