Bangkok Post – Japan Airlines does not expect flight cancellations due to A350 inspections

SEOUL: Japan Airlines does not expect any flight cancellations or delays as a result of the inspections of the Airbus A350-1000 engines ordered by the European Aviation Safety Agency, it said on Friday.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced on Thursday that Trent XWB-97 engines manufactured by Rolls-Royce would have to be inspected following an engine fire during a Cathay Pacific passenger plane’s flight.

Rolls-Royce said on Friday that it was “confident that we are able to meet the inspection requirements”.

Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific has cancelled several flights this week while it checked and repaired A350 engines after a Zurich-bound jet was forced to return to Hong Kong on Monday due to an engine problem that was later traced to a fuel leak.

EASA gave airlines between three and 30 days to carry out visual inspections and measurements on flexible fuel hose connections in the A350-1000 engines. The smaller A350-900 variant is not affected by the order.

Japan Airlines (JAL) inspected its entire fleet of A350-1000 and A350-900 jets earlier this week, but said additional inspections needed to be carried out in accordance with EASA guidelines and Rolls-Royce service instructions.

“No problems were identified on any aircraft,” JAL said in a statement.

Qatar Airways, which operates the largest number of A350-1000 jets, said on Friday that it was conducting inspections after receiving the instructions.

Etihad Airways, which operates five A350-1000 jets, said it had already begun proactive engine inspections before the directive was issued and would continue to carry out them in accordance with the directive.

“Etihad has not identified any issues or experienced any similar incidents with the engine and therefore the company does not expect any impact on operations,” it said in a statement.

Accident investigators in Hong Kong, where Cathay is based, are still looking into the incident.

Broker Jefferies said in a note to clients on Friday that it believed the engine problem was unlikely to be widespread and that no significant regulatory action had been taken.

“Since the defective part is now a fuel nozzle or fuel hose, any work required on the engines should a defect be found to be limited and can be repaired quickly. … This will only result in minimal costs for Rolls-Royce,” it said.