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All Cathay's A350s expected to resume service by Saturday

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Source says leaking fuel system may have caused engine

fire

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Engine maker Rolls-Royce has not ordered fleet-wide

inspection

Some Asian A350 operators inspecting engines, carriers say

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15 A350s need fuel line repairs, Cathay says

(Recasts, adds other airlines)

By Lisa Barrington

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Cathay Pacific Airways ( CPCAF ) said

it would return all Airbus A350s to operation by

Saturday following engine fuel lines repairs, while other

airlines were waiting for guidance from manufacturer Rolls-Royce

on whether they needed to inspect their engines.

Several Asian A350 operators have chosen to carry out their

own precautionary inspections after Cathay Pacific found 15

planes that needed fuel line repairs following the in-flight

failure of an engine part this week that forced its A350-1000

passenger plane to dump fuel and return to Hong Kong.

The inspections and repairs to Cathay's fleet of 48 A350

widebody jets made the carrier cancel 45 round trips on mostly

regional Asian routes this week, it said in its latest update.

Cathay Pacific said six A350s had been repaired and were

cleared to operate. The remaining nine were expected to be fixed

and returned to operation by Saturday.

"This was a significant situation for Cathay to manage as

the engine component failure was the first of its type to occur

on any A350 aircraft anywhere in the world," Cathay's Chief

Operations and Service Delivery Officer Alex McGowan said.

The airline, which operates A350-900 and A350-1000 planes

fitted with different Rolls-Royce engines, did not specify which

models were being repaired.

A person familiar with the matter said a leak in a fuel

system appeared to have caused a brief engine fire that was

quickly extinguished by the crew of a Zurich-bound A350-1000

plane on Monday, which returned to Hong Kong just over an hour

after take-off.

There were no immediate signs that the incident would

trigger significant regulatory action involving the A350 fleet,

the person added.

Rolls-Royce, which makes the two types of engines for the

A350-900 and the slightly longer A350-1000, has not issued an

official mandate for fleet-wide inspections of either engine

type and airlines are taking different approaches.

Tokyo-based Japan Airlines (JAL), which has five

new A350-1000s, said on Wednesday it was conducting its own

engine inspections.

By Tuesday, three had been inspected and found to be safe,

the carrier said, and the remaining two would be checked on

Wednesday.

Qatar Airways, which operates the most A350-1000s, on

Tuesday said the issue had no impact on its planes and it

continued to monitor any developments.

Taiwan's Starlux, which has six A350-900s said: "Out of

caution, we have contacted Rolls-Royce, the engine manufacturer,

and are awaiting an official reply."

Singapore Airlines is inspecting its A350-900

engines as a precaution, but said flights were not impacted.

Air China, a major A350-900 operator, will perform general

engine checks, reported Caixin, a Chinese business and economics

publication, on Tuesday. Air China did not respond to a request

for comment.

The incident caused a sharp drop in the shares of British

engine maker Rolls-Royce on Monday, but they bounced back

on Tuesday as concerns over implications for the global fleet

eased and some analysts called the sell-off overdone.

Rolls Royce shares were down 0.1% at 0824 GMT on Wednesday.