Cathay Pacific grounds fleet of Airbus A350s, cancels dozens of flights

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways canceled 32 flights to and from destinations in the region Tuesday a day after it was forced to ground its entire fleet of 48 Airbus A350s when a part in the Rolls Royce engine of one aircraft failed a short while into a flight to Zurich.

Inspections of the fleet had identified 15 aircraft with affected engine components that require replacement and three that had already undergone successful repairs but the cancelations were a necessary precaution with the remaining aircraft out of service until they have been repaired and cleared for operation, the airline said in a disruption update .

"At Cathay, safety of our customers and our people guides every decision we make," the airline said.

Cathay Pacific said it had canceled another 33 flights on Wednesday to and from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand and one flight so far on Thursday, from Seoul to Hong Kong.

The airline said details of further cancelations up to Saturday would be provided by 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday but that it expected "all affected aircraft will resume operations" by Sept. 7.

Cathay Pacific identified the engine component failure after a Switzerland-bound flight of one of its 18 A350-1000s developed a fault and safely returned to Hong Kong 75 minutes after departure on Monday.

"We immediately brought this issue to the attention of the aircraft and engine manufacturers as well as our regulators. As a precautionary measure, a fleet-wide inspection of our A350 aircraft was initiated immediately," it said.

The airline said Monday that it was the first time a component of its type had been known to fail "on any A350 aircraft worldwide ."

Cathay Pacific operates a further 30 of the slightly smaller A350-900 variant with both types powered by two Trent XWB-97 engines made by Britain's Roll Royce, according to the BBC.

Rolls Royce said Hong Kong authorities had launched an investigation, adding the company was "committed to working closely with the airline, aircraft manufacturer and the relevant authorities to support their efforts."

"As well as providing support and guidance to Cathay Pacific, Rolls-Royce will also keep other airlines that operate Trent XWB-97 engines fully informed of any relevant developments as appropriate," said the company.

It stressed parts could be replaced without removing the engines from the wings.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus said it was working with Cathay Pacific and Rolls Royce but said it could not comment beyond that until the investigation was complete.

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines also operate the A350 .

Japan Airlines, which has five of the A350-1000 variant, said it would perform inspections at the next routine scheduled maintenance as a "precautionary measure" and that it was awaiting guidance from Rolls Royce.

It said it did not anticipate any flight cancelations or disruptions arising from the inspections.

Qatar Airways said it was monitoring developments but that there had been "no impact on the operation of any Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1000s."

The A350 is Airbus' direct rival to Boeing's 787-10 and 777 models at a time when carriers are turning to Airbus as an alternative to the embattled Chicago-headquartered Boeing, embroiled in a series of safety issues with its 737-Max aircraft including the midflight blowout of a doorplug in January.