Qantas to put more A380s back in the air after accident
AUSTRALIA’S Qantas Airways plans to return more of its Airbus A380 superjumbos to service after disruption caused by the blow-out of a Rolls-Royce engine on one of its jets last month.
The carrier said it will have five A380s in service by the end of the week as it prepares to handle peak traffic at the start of the Southern hemisphere holiday season.
Qantas was forced to ground its six superjumbos after a Rolls Trent 900 engine on one of its A380s partly disintegrated mid-flight on 4 November, forcing an emergency landing.
Qantas will have four of its older A380s in service this week and will also add a new A380 to the fleet. It added that another new superjumbo is expected to arrive in January.
One of its older A380s remains under inspection while the aircraft involved in the
November incident is being repaired.
Qantas has threatened legal action against Rolls to secure compensation for costs incurred as a result of the engine failure on the Singapore to Sydney flight.
Air regulators said that checks imposed on all A380s run by Qantas, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines were being reduced after investigators moved closer to identifying the cause of the accident.