Cathay Pacific's Airbus A350 Grounded for Fleet-Wide Engine Component Inspection

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways has initiated a fleet-wide inspection of its Airbus A350 aircraft following an engine component failure. This precautionary measure led the airline to cancel 24 return flights and caused Rolls-Royce shares to plummet. The affected aircraft had to return during a flight to Zurich, marking the first reported failure of this kind on an A350 worldwide.

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways announced Monday that it has initiated a comprehensive inspection across its entire Airbus A350 fleet following the detection of an engine component failure. This announcement caused a significant drop in Rolls-Royce shares, the manufacturer of the affected engines.

The airline has already canceled 24 return flights through Tuesday, stating that multiple aircraft will be out of service temporarily as a precautionary measure. Questions directed at Airbus and Rolls-Royce were deferred, with the latter not immediately giving a statement.

Rolls-Royce stock fell by as much as 8.8% after Cathay Pacific reported an issue with its A350 engine. The fault was discovered when an aircraft en route to Zurich returned to Hong Kong. According to FlightRadar24, the grounded aircraft is an A350-1000, powered by Rolls' largest jet engine, the XWB-97.