British Airways (BA) has been forced to cancel hundreds of long-haul flights due to maintenance issues with Roll-Royce jet engines on their Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
The cancellations have affected thousands of passengers, with the airline halting the launch of its services to Malaysia and reducing flights to Qatar.
Routes between Gatwick Airport and New York JFK have also been suspended due to wear and tear on the airline’s Trent 1000 engines.
Rolls-Royce has been unable to supply enough replacement engines and parts to keep all 787s operations, according to BA.
The carrier has grounded five Boeing 777s
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The impact has been significant with many routes being postponed, including the new service from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur, which will be launched between November to April next year.
One of two daily flights from Heathrow to Doha will be cancelled until March.
Additionally, flights from Gatwick to New York JFK will be suspended from Early December for the entire winter season.
The British carrier has warned that further cancellations on other long-haul routes will occur between now and January.
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 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 been contacting affected customers to offer alternative travel arrangements.
So far the carrier has grounded five Boeing 777s, amounting to 15 per cent of its fleet. The airline has deployed over 777s to maintain service levels.
The replacement aircraft also require periodic maintenance, however, presenting ongoing challenges for the airline.
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British Airways is contacting affected customers
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“Unfortunately, Rolls-Royce, our engine supplier for our fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft, is experiencing challenges,” a BA spokesperson 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 spokesperson responded: “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.”