Cathay Pacific said it had been forced to cancel some flights as it conducted a thorough investigation of all of its Airbus A350 aircraft after discovering faulty engine parts. The airline said an A350 aircraft bound for Zurich turned back to Hong Kong on Monday and an inspection found an engine component failure. Cathay Pacific said in a statement that a subsequent inspection of the fleet found "a number of identical engine parts that required replacement."
Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine on Airbus A350XWB jet
The company did not specify the problems found with the engines. The engine's manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, said in a statement that it was "committed to working closely with the airline, the aircraft manufacturer and the relevant authorities to support its investigation into the incident," while Airbus directed requests for comment to the engine manufacturer and the airline.
Rolls-Royce fell 8.2% in the London market, the largest drop in two years. While it's unclear what caused the possible failure, investors have become increasingly wary in recent years of engines becoming a disruptive force in the aviation industry.
Cathay Pacific said a thorough investigation of all 48 A350 aircraft meant that some aircraft would need to be grounded for several days, and flights would also need to be adjusted. The company said it had canceled 24 pairs of round-trip flights as of Tuesday.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said in a statement that it was aware of the Cathay Pacific A350 incident and had contacted Airbus and Rolls-Royce. The regulator confirmed a formal investigation was underway.
A spokesman for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said: "We will closely monitor any information obtained from the technical investigation and decide on any fleet-wide action as required."