Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said it’s conducting an inspection of its entire Airbus SE A350 fleet as a “precautionary measure” after discovering some engine issues.

The Hong Kong-based airline, among the biggest operators of the European planemaker’s marquee long-range jet, said it identified an engine component failure on A350 aircraft that was forced to return from its flight to Zurich on Monday. A subsequent check of its fleet uncovered “a number of the same engine components that need to be replaced”, Cathay said in a statement.

The company didn’t specify the issue it had found on the engine, which is made by Rolls-Royce Holdings plc. Representatives for Rolls-Royce didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, while Airbus referred to the engine maker and the airline for comment.

The fleet-wide inspection of Cathay’s 48 A350 aircraft will mean that some of its planes will be out of service “for several days”, impacting schedules, the company said. The carrier has cancelled 24 return flights up until the end of Tuesday, it said. 

Rolls-Royce fell as much as 3.9% after Cathay’s statement, while Airbus declined as much as 1.9%. Rolls-Royce is the sole engine provider for the Airbus A350, which comes in two sizes: the smaller -900 variant and the larger -1000 type. The aircraft, which is made partially of lightweight composite components, competes with Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner and the 777 models. 

  - Bloomberg