Qantas A380s on Ground for Eighth Day After Engine Explosion
Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s largest airline, kept its fleet of Airbus SAS A380 planes grounded for an eighth day as it continues checks on Rolls-Royce Group Plc engines following a mid-flight turbine explosion.
The carrier is maintaining services by using Boeing Co. 747s on flights usually operated with A380s, it said in a statement today. The Sydney-based company didn’t say when its six superjumbos would resume flying.
Singapore Airlines Ltd. also yesterday pulled three A380s out of service for as long as 48 hours to replace Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines after finding oil stains in three units. Airbus and the London-based engine-maker advised carriers to check engines after a Qantas plane made an emergency landing on Nov. 4 following the inflight blowout.
An oil fire may have caused a disc in the engine’s turbine to fail, the European Aviation Safety Agency said in a statement yesterday. The authority has also issued a directive for checks on the Rolls-Royce engines, Qantas said. The carrier said it is already complying with the advice.
Singapore Airlines is also in “full compliance,” spokesman Nicholas Ionides said by phone today. The carrier still expects its three A380s to return to service on schedule, he said. The airline is switching engines as a precautionary measure, it said yesterday.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the only other user of the Trent 900, yesterday said it replaced an engine on one A380.
Qantas gained for a second day, rising 2.1 percent to A$2.86 at 3:50 p.m. in Sydney. Singapore Air fell 0.6 percent to S$16.02 at 12:30 p.m. midday trading break. Rolls-Royce fell 3.1 percent to close at 588 pence yesterday in London, bringing its decline since Nov. 3 to 10 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Melbourne at rfenner@bloomberg.net; Chan Sue Ling in Singapore slchan@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Neil Denslow at ndenslow@bloomberg.net
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