Qantas will keep its fleet of six Airbus A380s grounded for another 72 hours with anomalies spotted in three more engines during inspection.
Alan Joyce, the carrier's chief executive officer, said: “Qantas will not return its A380 fleet to service until confident the issues have been identified and resolved. At this stage, Qantas does not expect to operate the A380 fleet for at least another 72 hours.”
Investigations revealed oil leaks on three Trent 900 engines that were “beyond normal tolerances”, he said. The engines have been removed and sent back to Rolls Royce, the manufacturer, for further examination.
Qantas’ A380 had to make an emergency landing on Thursday at Singapore’s Changi Airport due to engine failure while en route to Sydney (see news).
The rest of Qantas’ fleet are now being utilised to continue with scheduled international services and passengers delayed due to the disruption of services will be compensated.
Qantas – usually boasting a close to impeccable safety record - is the only airline to be affected by such technical difficulties with the Trent 900 engine. Other airlines – Lufthansa Airlines and Singapore Airlines - using Trent 900 engines on their superjumbo aircraft have not found any anomalies and have resumed services.
For more information, visit www.airbus.com or www.qantas.com.au
Alisha Haridasani
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