SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Thursday it had discovered five cases of oil leaks on the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines powering its Airbus A380 planes.
However, SIA said the leaks were minor and did not pose any safety issues on the flights.
"It is correct that we have had five cases of oil leaks on Trent 900 engines but there was no safety of flight issue on any of those occasions," a spokesman with the airline said in a statement to AFP.
"The issue that
caused the leaks was identified and corrected. They were minor and we
never needed to reduce power during flight."
He said the leaks
were discovered after a Qantas A380 plane made an emergency landing in
Singapore in November last year due to a mid-air engine explosion.
The
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in a report that the
blast could have been caused by a possible manufacturing issue related
to oil pipes on the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine.
The Australian
safety watchdog said the problem could lead to fatigue cracking, oil
leakage and potential engine failure from an oil fire.
SIA carried out engined checks on its own A380 fleet after the Qantas incident.
SIA
is the first airline in the world to fly the A380 and now has 11 of the
massive aircraft in service, with another eight on order.
Last
month, Qantas estimated it had suffered an A$80 million (US$81.1
million) financial hit from November's blast and resultant aircraft
groundings. It said it was still discussing compensation with the
British engine-maker.
-AFP/jl