Cathay Pacific has identified 15 Airbus A350s with engine components that required replacement, as it wraps up inspections of its entire operating fleet after an in-flight engine component failure on 2 September.
In an update, Cathay says three of its 48 in-service A350s have undergone “successful repairs” and will be cleared to resume flying. The remaining affected jets are expected to return to operations by 7 September.
On 2 September, a Cathay A350-1000 operating a flight from Hong Kong to Zurich suffered an in-flight failure of an unnamed engine component. Flight CX383 touched down at Hong Kong about 1h 15min after take-off.
Cathay then initiated a fleetwide inspection of its A350s and informed Airbus and Rolls-Royce, as well as the relevant regulators. All A350s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. The -1000 is fitted with the XWB-97 version.
The Oneworld operator did not specify what component had failed, except to say the component was “the first of its type to suffer such failure on any A350 aircraft worldwide”.
Rolls-Royce, in a separate statement, says the replacement of the faulty component “can be completed while the engine is on-wing”. It adds that spare parts have already been secured for any replacement needed.
While the enginemaker did not confirm if it had issued a directive to other A350 operators about the component, it states that it will “also keep other airlines that operate Trent XWB-97 engines fully informed of any relevant developments as appropriate”.
Following the incident, Cathay had also cancelled multiple flights from 2 to 7 September, with its regional network the most impacted. On 3 September, the airline suspended all flights to Singapore, and cut back on operations to cites like Bangkok, Tokyo and Taipei.
More Asian cities, including Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Manila, will also see a number of flights suspended on 4 September. Cathay stresses that long-haul flights “will not be affected” by the ongoing inspection and repair.
