Aircraft

Rolls-Royce has rolled out a modification to Trent 900 engines on the Airbus A380 to counter the vane-cracking issue outlined in a European airworthiness directive this week.

The European Aviation Safety Agency directive orders regular checks, beginning before 400 cycles, on the nozzle guide vanes in the powerplant's high-pressure turbine.

Rolls-Royce stresses that it has addressed the potential issue on early-entry Trent 900s, stating that it has introduced a modification to the cooling of the vanes.

"No nozzle guide vanes have failed in service and there has been no disruption to services for our customers," it adds.

"The modification has not been rolled out on a number of early in-service engines and the remainder of the fleet will be modified as required, as part of the maintenance programme."

No new-build Trent 900 are affected, the manufacturer says. Seven Trent-powered A380s are in service, six with Singapore Airlines and one with Qantas.