Cathay Pacific anticipates resuming A350 operations within days of resolving engine problem.

• Cathay Pacific announced on Wednesday that it anticipated resuming operations of its Airbus A350 aircraft by the weekend.
• A problem with an in-flight engine on a flight to Zurich on Sept. 2 led to a fleet-wide inspection and the cancellation of numerous flights.
• On Monday, the suspension of Cathay Pacific's A350 flights caused Rolls-Royce's shares to drop 6.5%, but they rebounded on Tuesday as analysts believed the problem could be resolved quickly.

The Hong Kong flag carrier announced on Wednesday that it plans to resume operations of its Airbus A350 planes by the weekend, following an in-flight engine problem that led to a comprehensive inspection of the aircraft and numerous flight cancellations.

On Sept. 2, a Zurich-bound flight was forced to return to Hong Kong due to an engine component failure. The aircraft involved was the A350-1000 variant of the popular wide-body model, which uses Trent XWB-97 engines produced by British manufacturer Rolls-Royce.

On Wednesday, Cathay Pacific announced that 15 out of the 48 A350s in its fleet, including the A350-900 variant, had engine fuel lines that needed to be replaced. Six of these planes have already been repaired and are now cleared to fly, while the remaining nine are expected to be operational by Saturday, September 7.

Due to the availability of spare parts and the fact that replacements were conducted while the engines remained on-wing, the repairs were conducted relatively speedily.

Between Sept. 2 and Sept. 7, 44 of the 45 return flights that were cancelled due to disruption were scheduled to go to regional destinations, with only one flight heading to a long-haul destination.

Cathay Pacific's Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer Alex McGowan stated on Wednesday that the engine component failure on an A350 aircraft was a significant situation for Cathay to manage, as it was the first of its kind to occur anywhere in the world.

"The ability to complete thorough inspections and maintenance for all A350 aircraft within a short timeframe has been challenging. This reflects the can-do spirit of Cathay's people."

On Monday, Rolls-Royce's shares dropped 6.5% due to the suspension of Cathay Pacific's A350 flights, which caused investors to fear a potential repeat of the Trent 1000 engine problems that cost the company over £2.4 billion ($3 billion).

On Tuesday, shares closed slightly higher after analysts stated that the issue was a "quick fix" with minimal long-term consequences, rather than a fundamental flaw in the engine's design.

Rolls-Royce announced on Tuesday that it is collaborating with an investigation by Hong Kong authorities and will keep other airlines using Trent XWB-97 engines informed.

Airlines that operate A350s include Qatar Airways, British Airways, Japan Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic.