HONG KONG’S CATHAY PACIFIC CANCELS ANOTHER 20 FLIGHTS ON A350 PLANES, BRINGING TOTAL TO 68

Twenty more flights by Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will be cancelled on Wednesday after inspections found 15 of the airline’s A350 fleet had engine issues, the Post has learned, bringing the total number of aborted flights by the airline to 68 this week.

According to an insider familiar with the matter, the airline expects all flights with A350 aircraft to resume by Saturday.

Cathay completed inspections of all 48 of its A350 fleet on Monday night and found 15 planes with engine issues. Three of them had been fixed so far, the source said.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

The company said on Monday it had grounded its entire fleet of A350 aircraft after discovering a “first-of-its-kind problem” with a component of the model’s engine.

Cathay Pacific engineering director Keith Brown said each aircraft was undergoing a rigorous inspection and apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused.

Aviation engineers had identified the engine component failure after Zurich-bound flight CX383 returned to Hong Kong following take-off early on Monday morning.

An Airbus spokesman said the company was working closely with manufacturer Rolls-Royce and Cathay to resolve the issue.

The source said 20 more flights would be cancelled on Wednesday in addition to the 48 announced on Monday, adding that Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines operate the largest number of A350 aircraft.

Travellers affected by the cancellation complained about the airline’s poor customer service at Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday morning as they scrambled to rebook flights the night before.

More from South China Morning Post:

2024-09-03T06:01:45Z dg43tfdfdgfd