On Tuesday afternoon, Beijing time, Cathay Pacific Airways official website announced that after the incident of the engine failure of the Airbus A350 aircraft on the previous day, the engineering team has completed a comprehensive inspection of the company's A350 fleet and found that 15 aircraft need to replace engine components.

(Source: Cathay Pacific Airways official website)

Cathay Pacific Airways stated that due to the impact of engine maintenance, on top of the flights that were already canceled on Tuesday, an additional 10 round-trip flights will be canceled on Wednesday (September 4th). The company expects all affected aircraft to resume operations this Saturday (September 7th).

Overview of the incident

On Monday, local time, Cathay Pacific Airways flight CX383 took off as scheduled from Hong Kong, China, with the destination of Zurich. FlightRadar data shows that shortly after taking off from Hong Kong Airport, the aircraft entered a holding pattern for fuel dumping and returned, landing safely about 75 minutes after takeoff.

(Source: FlightRadar)

Cathay Pacific Airways subsequently reported that the reason for the aircraft's return was an engine component failure that was the first occurrence for the same model of aircraft worldwide. They have informed Airbus, engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, and regulatory agencies. Subsequent inspections found that multiple identical engine components need to be replaced in the entire A350 fleet.

Although it has not been explicitly disclosed by all parties which component has malfunctioned, media reports cite informed sources as saying that the airline suspects the problem lies in the hose that supplies fuel to the engine, and has requested its engineers to check for any abnormalities, deformations, twists, bulges, or degradation in the pipeline.

It is reported that Cathay Pacific Airways currently owns 48 A350 aircraft, of which 18 are the A350-1000 model involved in this incident, and there are also 18 A350-900 models.

How extensive is the impact?

The problematic Trent XWB-97 engine, designed specifically for the A350-1000 model aircraft and A350 freighters by Rolls-Royce, is also the largest civilian jet engine in the company's product line. According to Airbus data, there are a total of more than 80 aircraft of the same model worldwide. However, some components of the XWB-84 engine for the A350-900 model will also be shared, so the impact may extend to 526 aircraft of the 900 model.

In terms of the A350-1000 model, in addition to Cathay Pacific Airways, other companies such as Qatar Airways, British Airways, Etihad Airways, and Japan Airlines also operate this type of aircraft. The impact range of the A350-900 will be even larger, including multiple domestic airlines such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Sichuan Airlines.

However, at present, except for Cathay Pacific Airways, other airlines have not yet taken any action. For example, Japan Airlines stated that it has not received detailed information or recommended actions from Rolls-Royce, but will verify the situation with the engine manufacturer.

On the official level, the Air Accidents Investigation Authority (AAIA) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has initiated an investigation following the incident.

(Source: AAIA)

According to the report by Yicai on Tuesday, airline management revealed that the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has intervened in the investigation to assess whether the A350 aircraft in mainland China needs to be inspected.

With the situation gradually easing, the stock market fluctuations are also gradually calming down. Rolls-Royce, listed in London, rebounded by more than 3% on Tuesday after falling more than 8% yesterday, reflecting investors' expectations that engine maintenance costs will not be too high and that there will be no need for more complex redesign of the engines.

(Rolls-Royce stock price daily chart, Source: TradingView)

Rolls-Royce stated on Tuesday that they are committed to closely cooperating with airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and relevant authorities. If any components need to be replaced, spare parts will be adequately supplied, and the replacement process will not require the engines to be removed from the wings.

(Source: Rolls-Royce official website)