Cathay Pacific has repaired engine fuel lines on six of 15 Airbus A350s the carrier identified as requiring maintenance after a component failure on a Rolls-Royce Trent XWB on 2 September. Six of the repaired aircraft have been cleared to return to service as of 4 September, the airline says. It adds that all 15 aircraft are set to be back in operation by 7 September as its maintenance activity "continues to progress well". The Hong Kong-based carrier expects to cancel 11 more regional return flights from 5-7 September, including those to Seoul, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok, Shanghai and Kaohsiung. Cathay says that this brings total flight cancellations to 45 between 2 and 7 September, adding that all cancelled flights are for regional destinations, except for the affected long-haul flight on 2 September. During that flight, a Cathay A350-1000 operating a service to Zurich returned to Hong Kong after the engine component failure. Thereafter, Cathay launched a fleet-wide inspection of its 48 A350s, comprising 30 -900s and 18 of the larger -1000s. "This was a significant situation for Cathay to manage as the engine component failure was the first of its type to occur on any A350 aircraft anywhere in the world," states chief operations and service delivery officer Alex McGowan. "Completing thorough inspection and maintenance for all A350 aircraft within such a short timeframe has been challenging," he adds. Japan Airlines, another A350 operator, says that it "independently decided to start inspections" on its aircraft on 3 September as a result of the Cathay incident. "While we are currently awaiting further information from Rolls-Royce regarding our five Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, we have decided to conduct precautionary inspections during their scheduled maintenance at Haneda airport," JAL says, noting: "We do not anticipate any flight delays or cancellations at this time. "Inspections of three aircraft have been completed, and no problems have been found. The remaining two aircraft are also scheduled to be inspected today." JAL adds: "Although the A350-900 has a different engine type, we are also inspecting it as a precaution, and no problems have been found so far."

ITA Airways will resume flights between Rome Fiumicino and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion from 5 September. The Italian carrier says it will initially operate a daily daytime service and will resume nighttime flights from 1 October. "The airline will continue to closely monitor geopolitical developments in the Middle East and evaluate their potential impact on operations," it adds.

C&L Aerospace has signed an agreement to sell inventory for Boeing 737-800s previously operated by Australian carrier Rex Airlines. Regional Express Holdings and a number its subsidiaries, including Rex Airlines, entered voluntary administration in July, which led to the grounding of the carrier's 737 fleet. C&L says that it arranged an agreement with Ernst & Young after the inventory became available for sale. The equipment includes a CFM International CFM56-7B engine, APU, landing gear and consists of over 100,000 individual parts. "With our roots in Australia, we have a long-standing relationship with Rex," states C&L Aviation Group chief Chris Kilgour. "So, C&L was the natural choice to assist in the disposal of these assets." Citing more than 5,000 international 737NGs in service today, Kilgour expects the inventory to be in high demand.