As many as 40 Rolls Royce engines on Airbus A380 planes may need replacing, according to Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce.
Speaking to journalists in Sydney, Mr Joyce said “We’ve been talking to Airbus and Rolls-Royce and we understand that the number is around 40 [engines to be replaced]… We’ll have a daily dialogue with Rolls-Royce to determine which engines actually need to be taken off”
The problem, which caused a Qantas Airbus flight to land prematurely a fortnight ago – 4th November 2010 – when the engine exploded and burst into flames, has been identified to stem from a single “specific component,” by the engine’s makers, Rolls Royce.
Qantas have a fleet of six A380s, all of which remain grounded following the incident. Three engine have already been replaced on these planes.
Singapore Airlines have also replaced three engines on their fleet of 11 A380s but other airlines using the large Airbus model, Emirates and Air France, have avoided the problems as they do not use the Rolls Royce engine.
Rollys Royce Grop (LSE: RR.L) have dropped IRO 50 points (just over 7.5%) on the London Stock Exchange since the abortive landing and engine problems came to light.