Qatar Airways said there are no issues with its fleet of Airbus A350-1000s in the wake of Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific grounding its A350 fleet for “precautionary” inspections after the in-flight failure of a Rolls-Royce engine part.
Cathay Pacific cancelled several flights after discovering an engine component failure on an A350-1000 wide-body aircraft that was forced to return from its flight to Zurich minutes after taking off from Hong Kong on Monday.
Among the top operators of the A350 in the Middle East is Qatar Airways with 24 of the wide-body aircraft in its fleet.
“At present, there has been no impact on the operation of any Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1000s. We are continuing to monitor any developments,” an airline representative told The National.
Etihad Airways, which operates five of the Airbus A350-1000s, and Turkish Airlines, which operates the smaller A350-900 variant, did not immediately provide a comment on the status of their fleet.
British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce confirmed that Cathay Pacific's aircraft was powered by its Trent XWB-97 engines.
The company said it was committed to working closely with the airline, Airbus and the relevant Hong Kong authorities to support their investigation of the issue.
Rolls-Royce will “keep other airlines that operate Trent XWB-97 engines fully informed of any relevant developments as appropriate”, it said.
Airbus said it is “working closely” with Rolls-Royce and Cathay Pacific.
“At this time it would be inappropriate for us to comment further, pending the ongoing investigation,” the plane manufacturer said.
Cathay Pacific did not identify the engine part that failed but the airline said it was the “first of its type to suffer such failure on any A350 aircraft worldwide”.
The Airbus A350 is a twin-engined long-haul passenger jet that can carry between 300 and 480 passengers. It comes in two sizes: the A350-900 and the larger A350-1000, both powered exclusively by Rolls-Royce engines.
The A350-1000 is Airbus's twin-aisle aircraft which was designed to compete with Boeing's popular 777-300 and 777-300ER versions that go up to a 400-seat capacity. The lightweight carbon-fibre Airbus jet is an all-new design aircraft and was intended to break its US rival's dominance in the “mini-jumbo” segment.
The A350-1000 took to the skies for the first time in November 2016, followed by the first aircraft delivery in 2018 to debut customer Qatar Airways.
It is a larger variant to the new-generation A350-900, which entered service in 2015 also with Qatar Airways. That aircraft competes with Boeing's 777-200ER/LR jets and the 787-10 Dreamliner.
Customers of the A350-1000 include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.
The A350-1000 and the A350 freighter use Trent XWB-97 engines, Rolls-Royce's biggest civil jet engine. The A350-900 uses the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engines.
Dubai-based Emirates has also ordered the Airbus A350-900, but airline president Tim Clark has expressed dissatisfaction with the Rolls-Royce XWB engines that power the larger A350-1000 because he says they need too much maintenance in a hot and sandy environment.
Rolls-Royce has committed to investing more than £1 billion ($1.3 billion) to upgrade the engines, seeking to improve their performance and durability.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Scoreline
Man Utd 2 Pogba 27', Martial 49'
Everton 1 Sigurdsson 77'
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')
Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
%3Cp%3EElena%20Rybakina%20(Kazakhstan)%3Cbr%3EOns%20Jabeur%20(Tunisia)%3Cbr%3EMaria%20Sakkari%20(Greece)%3Cbr%3EBarbora%20Krej%C4%8D%C3%ADkov%C3%A1%20(Czech%20Republic)%3Cbr%3EBeatriz%20Haddad%20Maia%20(Brazil)%3Cbr%3EJe%C4%BCena%20Ostapenko%20(Latvia)%3Cbr%3ELiudmila%20Samsonova%3Cbr%3EDaria%20Kasatkina%3Cbr%3EVeronika%20Kudermetova%3Cbr%3ECaroline%20Garcia%20(France)%3Cbr%3EMagda%20Linette%20(Poland)%3Cbr%3ESorana%20C%C3%AErstea%20(Romania)%3Cbr%3EAnastasia%20Potapova%3Cbr%3EAnhelina%20Kalinina%20(Ukraine)%3Cbr%3EJasmine%20Paolini%20(Italy)%3Cbr%3EEmma%20Navarro%20(USA)%3Cbr%3ELesia%20Tsurenko%20(Ukraine)%3Cbr%3EEmma%20Raducanu%20(Great%20Britain)%20%E2%80%93%20wildcard%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
Price, base / as tested Dh97,600
Engine 1,745cc Milwaukee-Eight v-twin engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 78hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque 145Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.0L / 100km (estimate)
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
