Cathay Pacific announced that due to an engine component problem discovered on an A350 aircraft, the company decided to conduct a full “preventive inspection” of all of its 48 Airbus SE A350 fleets.

Earlier, an A350 that flew to Zurich in the early morning of September 2 was forced to return to Hong Kong due to engine component failure, and a subsequent inspection by Thai Airways found that “multiple identical engine parts needed to be replaced” of the A350 aircraft, but the company did not specify the problems found in the engine.

The incident caused shares of Airbus and Rolls-Royce (A350 engine manufacturer) to drop. Rolls-Royce (RR/.LN) began a sharp dive at around 9:25 Beijing time, and the decline quickly widened to 6%, while Airbus Paris, France's stock price fell by more than 1.3%, and is in the midst of a third consecutive trading day of decline. Both had the highest declines in the pan-European Stoxx 600 index.

Notably, the two companies' stock prices began falling before Cathay Pacific announced the inspection news, partly due to large-scale strikes and protests in Israel, pressuring the government to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas.

Cathay Pacific said in a statement that the A350 aircraft engine component failure was the first in the world. The company has notified aircraft and engine manufacturers and relevant regulators of this situation. To ensure safety, Cathay Pacific is making every effort to procure spare parts in need of replacement and ship them to Hong Kong to assist with maintenance work.

Cathay Pacific had to adjust its flight plans as some aircraft needed to be grounded for several days for maintenance. Currently, 24 pairs of round-trip flights have been cancelled today and tomorrow, and affected customers have been notified. The company will release adjustments for the remaining flights as early as tomorrow.