Rolls-Royce to Replace Engines of Superjumbo Airbus Jets

15 November 2010

Firefighters surround a Qantas passenger plane which made an emergency landing in Singapore's Changi International Airport after having engine problems, 04 Nov 2010

British jet-engine maker Rolls-Royce would not comment on the report that it would swap out entire engines on A380 Superjumbo jets.

The company said it stands by its earlier statement that an engine fire in a Quantas airliner was caused by a specific component in the turbine area, but declined to name the component. Industry analyst Howard Wheeldon said swapping out engines could take some time.

"It suggests that this is a three, six or maybe nine-month job to get these aircraft back in the air as opposed to and earlier hope that if could be just a few weeks," said Wheeldon.

Quantas has grounded its six A380s, after finding oil leaks in three of them. A Quantas spokesman called its approach conservative. Wheeldon agrees.

"Perfectly understandable that Quantas should want answers to what is still an unexplained problem, and to ensure that the engines in service in the future will not come up against a similar problem."

Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa checked their planes and returned all but one to service. Wheeldon said that was a logical decision. "We must remember that this was not a crash, this was an incident where one engine failed, there are three others, this aircraft can fly on two engines. Now obviously one does not want to see an incident like this, but the company [has] got to the bottom of it very quickly."