B787 med motorproblemer - Curt Lewis

Thai seeks compensation from Rolls-Royce over grounded B787s

Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) plans to seek compensation from Rolls-Royce after being forced to ground all but one of its six B787-8 aircraft. Five of the carrier's Dreamliners have been out of action due to issues with the Rolls.Royce Trent 1000 turbine blades, reports The Bangkok Post.

 

ch-aviation analysis of FlightRadar 24 ADS-B data shows that as at July 7, 2017, three aircraft are still grounded: HS-TQF (msn 38759) has been at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi since May 26, HS-TQD (msn 35320) since June 22, and HS-TQA (msn 35315) since June 27. Both HS-TQB (msn 35316) and HS-TQD (msn 35320) were out of action for four days each at the end of June. Only HS-TQE (msn 38757) has been in service without interruption.

 

The aircraft are usually deployed on routes to Australia, Dubai, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, and India.

 

This is not the first time the Trent 1000 powerplants have proved troublesome. ANA - All Nippon Airways (NH, Tokyo Haneda) last year was forced to ground a number of aircraft and cancel flights, after experiencing mid-flight engine problems. Rolls-Royce carried out a systematic replacement of faulty turbine blades which have proven susceptible to corrosion and cracking. ANA operates almost sixty B787-8 and B787-9 twinjets all of which are powered by the Trent 1000.

 

THAI hopes that all repairs will be carried out by August, with normal operations to resume in September 2017.

 

However, the Bangkok Post quotes an anonymous 'senior executive' at Thai who is worried about the long-term implications of the problems. "The grounding has really cost us a fortune, our passengers are unhappy and our reputation has been damaged," the executive is quoted as saying.