Cathay Pacific Cancels 24 Flights After Airbus A350 Engine Failure Rolls-Royce Shares Drop

The carrier said it had canceled 24 return flights operating until the end of Tuesday, and that several aircraft would be out of service for several days while the process, which it described as precautionary, was completed.

An Airbus spokesperson referred questions to the airline and to engine maker Rolls-Royce, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shares in the British company – the sole engine provider for the long-haul A350 jetliner – fell as much as 8.8% after Cathay reported the engine component failure.

The failure was identified in an aircraft forced to return to Hong Kong during a flight to Zurich earlier on Monday. Cathay Pacific did not describe the component in detail but said it was the first of its type to suffer such failure on any A350 aircraft worldwide.

“Thus far we have identified a number of the same engine components that need to be replaced. Spare parts have been secured and repair work is underway,” it said.

According to Flightradar24 data, the diverted aircraft is an A350-1000, the larger of two models of twin-engined A350. These are powered by the XWB-97, Rolls’ largest jet engine.

According to the same data, the aircraft involved was delivered in January 2019.

It was not immediately clear when the affected Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engine was first placed on the aircraft. Experts say airlines and engine makers occasionally swap engines around to fit maintenance schedules.

The airline said it coordinated with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and the jet and engine manufacturers.

Cathay Pacific operates a mixed fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft and has around 100 planes currently on order including freighters, narrow-bodies, and wide-bodies, with rights to acquire another 80.