After identifying a fault in the engine of one of its planes on Monday, the Hong Kong airline announced that 15 of its planes need new fuel lines at the engine level.
A technical inspection that may have prevented more serious problems. Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific said Wednesday it had identified 15 of its Airbus A350s as needing new fuel lines at the engine level, according to inspections carried out after 48 of its planes were grounded for safety reasons. “fuel lines at engine level” of “15 planes” require replacement and, “Among them, six have already undergone successful repairs and are ready for use”the company said, adding that a total of 90 flights had been cancelled between Monday and Saturday.
Cathay, one of the world’s largest operators of A350 jets, grounded all 48 of the type in its fleet after a Zurich-bound plane was forced to turn back to Hong Kong on Monday. The company said it had identified “a failure of an engine component” manufactured by Rolls-Royce. “This component is the first of its type to suffer such a failure on an A350 in the world”she had indicated.
Following Monday’s incident, several Asian airlines, including Japan Airlines, Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines, said they were conducting safety checks on their fleets of A350-900s and A3500-1000s, which use engines made by Rolls-Royce.
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A return to normal by Saturday
Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday it expects to return to normal operations by Saturday after replacing fuel lines on several of its Airbus A350 engines.
Six of the 15 affected planes have been repaired, the company said in a statement. “The remaining nine devices” will also undergo repairs and should “resume their activity by Saturday”Cathay Pacific added.
