Budget carrier Norwegian has yet to ascertain the degree of potential disruption from a revised inspection regime on Boeing 787 engines.
The carrier operates 787s fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 powerplants, which have been undergoing examination by operators as a result of blade durability problems.
Rolls-Royce determined earlier this month that certain Trent engines needed more intense inspections.
"Norwegian and several airlines worldwide have unfortunately been forced to conduct extraordinary inspections on a number of [787s]," says the carrier.
"This will affect our operations going forward, but it is too early to predict the scale of the issue."
Chief executive Bjorn Kjos says that, while the airlines' new Trent 1000-TEN powerplants are unaffected, the airline has older 787 engines which need checks. He says wet-leases will be needed to cover the time period for the inspections.
"We are not the ones building the engines. We're not the ones building the new [aircraft]," he adds. "So why should we pay for it?"
Norwegian is aiming to have 32 787s in its operation by the end of this year.
Eleven 787-9s will be delivered to the carrier over the course of 2018, along with 12 Boeing 737 Max jets and two 737-800s.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
