British Airways AXES flights from major UK airports due to plane shortages as hundreds of trips cancelled
BRITISH Airways has axed flights around the world cancelling hundreds of trips after it was hit by engine issues.
The flag-carrier grounded aircraft after finding maintenance issues with some of its Rolls-Royce jet engines.
New routes to Malaysia have been canned, while the frequency of flights to Qatar has been halved.
Some services have also been suspended between Gatwick and JFK in New York.
Thousands of flyers will have been affected by the changes and the hundreds of craft halted.
The airline has already scrapped 11 routes because of the issue, the Telegraph reports.
BA said the issue is with the Trent 1000 engines used on its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets.
There is excessive wear and tear on them and Rolls-Royce has been unable to supply enough replacement engines and parts.
BA has grounded five planes, or 15 per cent of the fleet.
Boeing 777s have been used to pick up the slack, but those too also need to be repaired every so often.
The launch of a Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route will now be delayed from November to April 2025.
One of the two daily trips to Doha has been canned, while flights between Gatwick and JFK will be suspended for winter from December.
A BA spokesperson said: “We’ve taken this action because we do not believe the issue will be solved quickly, and we want to offer our customers the certainty they deserve
“We’ve apologised to those affected and are able to offer the vast majority a flight the same day with British Airways or one of our partner airlines.
“We continue to work closely with Rolls-Royce to ensure the company is aware of the impact its issues are having on our schedule and customers, and seek reassurance of a prompt and reliable solution.”
BA has contacted customers whose flights have been cancelled and offered alternative travel arrangements.
They said: “Unfortunately, Rolls-Royce, our engine supplier for our fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft, is experiencing challenges,” it said.
“We’re not the only airline experiencing this issue and are doing all we can to work with Rolls-Royce to resolve the situation.”
A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: “We continue to work with British Airways and all of our customers to minimise the impact of the limited availability of spares due to the current supply chain constraints.
“Unfortunately, this is an issue affecting the whole aerospace industry.”