Virgin Atlantic and British Airways cancel flights due to lack of parts

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways Trent 1000

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have confirmed further schedule changes due to delivery delays to parts for the Boeing 1000's Rolls-Royce Trent 787 engines.

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British Airways has reportedly pulled flights to Dallas Fort Worth in summer 2025 and reduced frequencies to Miami, with partner American Airlines taking over services. The move, which also includes canceling flights to Kuwait,

Virgin Atlantic has also reportedly had to cancel flights due to problems with the same Trent 1000 engine.

Virgin flights to Tel Aviv were due to restart in March 2025 and a new route to Accra, Ghana, was due to launch in May 2025. But both trips have been delayed until late October 2025.

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Services to Cancun, Mexico, the British airline's route network. However, the start of flights to Accra, Ghana, in 2025 has been delayed. 

Cancun will the Virgin network on October 19, 2025, with three weekly flights from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Cancun International Airport (CUN) for the northern winter of 2025. All flights between the cities will be operated by the fleet of 12 Airbus A350-1000 wide-body aircraft.

Trent 1000 engine problems

The Trent 1000 engine has faced engineering issues for over a decade, requiring frequent maintenance inputs that result in aircraft sitting idle for extended periods, leading to a back engine maintenance

In June, according to EASA, Rolls-Royce identified a possibility of release of the high pressure compressor (HPC) mini-disc anti-rotation block on the HPC stage 5 and 6 discs and on the rear rotor shaft, also known as the HPC rear drum, during engine operation.

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In total, eight different types of Trent 1000 engines are affected by AD. However, they need to have Rolls-Royce Service Bulletin (SB) 72-G319 or SB 72-G893 incorporated. The European regulator has exempted engines that have Rolls-Royce modification (mod) 72-AK645 installed during production or while the engine was repaired during an engine workshop visit with an applicable SB

Rolls-Royce said it is doing everything it can to address supply chain issues that have plagued the industry since the pandemic.

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