Etihad ‘proactively’ checking A350 jets, UAE aviation regulator says

Etihad Airways is proactively undertaking checks on its fleet of Airbus A350-1000 aircraft after Cathay Pacific’s mid-flight discovery of an engine component problem in this aircraft type, according to the UAE civil aviation regulator.
The Abu Dhabi-based airline is inspecting its fleet of five A350 wide-bodies but there is currently no requirement for any major regulatory action, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), told The National.
“We at the GCAA are closely monitoring the situation in co-ordination with EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency), Airbus, and Rolls-Royce. As of today, there is no need for significant regulatory action,” the UAE’s aviation body said in a statement.
“However, our national carrier, which operates this type of aircraft, is conducting proactive inspections across its A350 fleet.”
Etihad Airways has not discovered any problems as it inspects the Rolls-Royce engines on its A350 wide-bodies, an airline representative said in a separate statement to The National.
“At present Etihad has discovered no issues, nor experienced any similar events with the engine, hence does not anticipate any impact on its operations,” the representative said.
“The airline continues to monitor the situation alongside the aviation authorities and equipment manufacturers.”
Etihad Airways, which operates five of the Airbus A350-1000s, is the only airline in the UAE that has this aircraft type in active service.
Several airlines are carrying out precautionary inspections on their Airbus A350 fleets after Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific found 15 planes that needed fuel line repairs following the in-flight failure of an engine part on Monday.
The Airbus A350-1000 is powered by the Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engine. There are 87 of these passenger aircraft with this engine type in service worldwide, one in storage and 210 on order, according to aviation data company Cirium. There are 55 A350 freighters on order, but none in service.