Dubai: Qatar's national carrier confirmed Friday that it will conduct 'one-off inspections' on its Airbus A350 jet engines after receiving an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Rolls-Royce.
"Qatar Airways confirms that it received an AD from EASA and Rolls-Royce, mandating a one-off inspection of the engines on its Airbus A350-1000 fleet," the airline said in a statement.
"The inspections are being conducted as a precautionary measure to ensure the continued safety and security of our passengers, which remains our highest priority," Qatar Airways said.
The airline is among the top operators of the A350 in the Middle East, with 24 of the wide-body aircraft in its fleet. Earlier in the week, the airline told the media that there has been no impact on the operation of any Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1000s; however, it continues to monitor the situation.
The EASA action marks the first official confirmation that an engine fire broke out in the incident at the start of this week. Cathay Pacific flight CX383 turned around and returned to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff for Zurich. The regulator said the fire was quickly detected and extinguished.
EASA said the checks will be required "to identify and remove from service any potentially compromised high-pressure fuel hoses. " The measure is "precautionary." However, it said, not all A350s may require inspections. There are 86 such planes in service worldwide.
UAE's Etihad inspects fleet
Britain's Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc, which makes the Trent XWB-97 engine that powers the A350-1000 model, said Thursday it was launching "a one-time precautionary engine inspection programme" that may apply "to a portion of the A350 fleet"." According to data from aviation analytics company Cirium, the Airbus A350-900 has a different engine, also manufactured by Rolls Royce.
UAE's national carrier Etihad Airways confirmed Thursday that it is running checks on its fleet of five Airbus A350-1000s. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier confirmed that it has not encountered any issues so far.
"Etihad Airways is currently pro-actively inspecting Rolls Royce engines across its A350 fleet," an Etihad spokesperson said. Etihad Airways is the sole UAE airline that offers this aircraft type of service.
Malaysian Airlines finds 'potential issue'
Meanwhile, some of Asia's largest operators of the Airbus SE A350 have been carrying out precautionary inspections on their fleets.
Malaysia Airlines said Friday it had found a "potential issue" with the engine of an Airbus A350-900 aircraft in its fleet but added that it had been resolved.
"Malaysia Airlines Berhad confirms that its A350-900, Trent XWB-84 fleet recently underwent a precautionary inspection, during which a potential issue with high-pressure fuel hoses on one aircraft was identified," the carrier said in a statement.
"This finding was swiftly resolved, and the aircraft has been fully cleared for service by stringent maintenance protocols," it added.
