Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said on Wednesday its Airbus A350 fleet would fully resume operations by Saturday after it found 15 planes that needed fuel line repairs following the in-flight failure of an engine part this week.

The inspections and repairs to the Rolls-Royce engines that power its fleet of 48 A350 widebody jets led the carrier to cancel 45 return flights on mostly regional Asian routes this week, it said in its latest update.

Cathay Pacific said six of the 15 aircraft needing engine fuel lines replaced had been repaired and were cleared to operate. The remaining nine were expected to be fixed and returned to operation by Saturday.

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.

 - Reuters