Qatar Airways says 'no impact' from Airbus A350 Rolls Royce engine issue

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.

Passengers at Cathay Pacific check-in counters at Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday, September 3, 2024. Bloomberg

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.

Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.

The biog

Name: Ayisha Abdulrahman Gareb

Age: 57

From: Kalba

Occupation: Mukrema, though she washes bodies without charge

Favourite things to do: Visiting patients at the hospital and give them the support they need.
Role model: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

UAE currency

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.

- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law