Cathay Pacific A350: Hong Kong carrier cancels flights after discovering problems with Rolls-Royce engines

The airline has, so far, cancelled 24 return flights with eight out of nine of its flights from Hong Kong to Singapore scrapped today (Tuesday 3 September). Other services across Asia have also been cancelled as the airline races to inspect its fleet of Airbus A350s, powered by Rolls-Royce engines.

Cathay said “a number of aircraft will be out of service for several days” while checks are carried out as a “precautionary measure”. Three flights to Bangkok, three to Tokyo and one to Taipei have also been scrapped.

Cathay acted after a part failed on one of its A350-1000 widebody planes shortly after take-off from Hong Kong, on a route to Zurich, on Monday (2 September). The plane dumped its fuel over the sea before returning safely to Hong Kong, where an engine component failure was identified.

Keith Brown, the Cathay Pacific engineering director, said: “Each aircraft is undergoing a rigorous inspection. Upon completion, the aircraft cleared for operation will return to service, while those identified with technical issues will undergo further repair and maintenance work. Meanwhile, we are liaising with the Hong Kong civil aviation department and the aircraft and engine manufacturers. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding.”

Some Hong Kong passengers affected by Cathay Pacific Airways’ flight cancellations have complained about “poor customer service and confusion”, the South China Morning Post has reported. The newspaper says: “Travellers told the Post they were informed of the cancellations at around 9:30pm on Monday, with many panicking to make last-minute travel arrangements.

“Some of those who were supposed to travel on the cancelled flights to Singapore managed to rebook seats with the city state’s airline on the same day. Hairstylist Shum Sai-cheong, who was travelling with six others to attend an expo event in the city state, said he had liaised with Cathay’s customer service until midnight.”

The airline said three of the 48 Rolls-Royce-powered planes it had inspected had already gone through successful repairs and all of the jets were expected to resume operation by Saturday (7 September). Rolls-Royce saw £2.7bn knocked off its stock market value on Monday and its shares have rebounded 4.4pc in early trading.