British Airways has been forced to cancel hundreds of long-haul flights after maintenance issues with its Rolls-Royce jet engines grounded aircraft.
The launch of a new Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route will be delayed from November to April next year, said reports.
One of two daily trips from Heathrow to Doha will be cancelled until March, while flights from Gatwick to New York JFK airport will be suspended from early December for the whole of the winter season, added the reports.
At least five BA 787s are said to be grounded, equivalent to 15% of the airline’s fleet.
Boeing 777s, which had been standing in for the grounded 787s have also been “overworked to such an extent that they too require visits to the workshop”, reported the Telegraph.
In a statement, British Airways told Travel Weekly: “We’re disappointed that we’ve had to make further changes to our schedule as we continue to experience delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce – particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft.
“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 for their travel plans.
“We’ve apologised to those affected and are able to offer the vast majority a flight the same day with British Airways or 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.”
The Telegraph noted that it is understood that the situation has been “exacerbated by a strike over pay at Boeing, which has held up supplies of some other parts”.
A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: “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.”