Qantas and Rolls-Royce settle A380 case

Qantas and Rolls-Royce have reached a settlement over last year’s mid-air explosion.

Travel Insurance News - 23/06/2011

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Australian airline Qantas has reached a settlement with engine supplier Rolls-Royce over the mid-air explosion that forced one of the airline’s Airbus A380s to carry out an emergency landing and led to Qantas grounding all of its A380s. Rolls-Royce has agreed to pay £62.5 million to settle the case.

The incident last year saw the Airbus land safely without any injuries to the 469 people on the plane. Qantas was forced the ground all of the A380 jets in its fleet.

Richard de Crespigny, the captain of the A380, received much praise for safely bringing the jet back to Singapore after the number-two engine exploded shortly after it had taken off. Flight QF32 had been headed for Sydney.

The incident in November was investigated by Australia’s Transport Safety Bureau. In the report, investigators said an oil leak caused by defective manufacturing had caused the blow-up of the Trent 900 engine.

Following the incident, Qantas grounded all six A380s in its fleet. For several weeks of the southern hemisphere’s busy summer season, the airline had to do without the huge superjumbos on some of its most valuable routes.

Following the announcement of the out-of-court agreement, Qantas said it would boost the airline’s pre-tax profits for its 2011 financial year. Qantas says it has discontinued legal action against Rolls-Royce.

Despite the positive news, Qantas boss Alan Joyce warned that the airline would be forced to make some ‘tough decisions’ on its international operations, which are running at a loss. The carrier is expected to restructure its international services to boost the focus on Asia.

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