Singapore Airlines will take three Airbus SAS A380s out of service for as long as 48 hours to change Rolls-Royce Group Plc engines following a turbine blowout on a Qantas Airways flight last week.

One engine will be changed on each of the planes, which will arrive in Singapore today, Chief Executive Officer Chew Choon Seng told reporters in the city-state. The move is a precautionary measure after “slight” oil staining was found in areas of the Trent 900 engines, he said.

 

The carrier, which operates 11 471-seat A380s, has no plans to cancel flights because of the engine swaps, Chew said. Qantas extended a grounding of its superjumbos to at least a week after finding evidence of potential oil leaks in three Rolls-Royce units during checks prompted by the Nov. 4 mid-flight explosion.

 

Singapore Air’s A380s will only return to service “when we are thoroughly happy,” Chew said. “They will be out of action for a day or a maximum of two days.”

 

The aircraft are flying back from London, Melbourne and Sydney, said spokesman Nicholas Ionides. Singapore Air, the largest user of Trent 900s, grounded its A380s on the day of the Qantas incident to undertake checks recommended by Airbus and London-based Rolls-Royce. The aircraft returned to service less than 24 hours later.

 

Airbus has a team in Singapore to assist the carrier, Sean Lee, a spokesman, said by phone. Rolls-Royce advised the airline to make the changes, he said. Roger Hunt, a Sydney-based spokesman for the engine-maker, declined to comment.

 

Chew said he had been “assured at the highest levels” that Rolls-Royce is doing everything necessary to investigate the issue.

 

Singapore Air, which began flying the A380 in October, 2007, has operated more than 10,000 flights using superjumbos, carrying at least 4 million passengers, Chew said. The planes account for about 12% of the carrier’s passenger capacity, according to K. Ajith, an analyst at UOB-Kay Hian Research Pte in Singapore.

 

The airline has an engine maintenance contract with Rolls- Royce that includes spare parts for the Trent 900, Chew said. Warranties for new engines run as long as two years, he said.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the only other operator of Trent 900-powered A380s, expects its planes to fly as scheduled today, Singapore-based spokesman Frank Puttmann said by phone. The Trent 900 is only used on A380s.

 

Singapore Air fell 1.2% to $16.12 at the close of trading in Singapore today. Rolls-Royce dropped 1.2% to 599 pence at 11:39 a.m. in London.

 

Qantas’s six A380s, representing about 17% of its international capacity, may return to service as soon as tomorrow, spokesman Simon Rushton reiterated by phone today. The carrier grounded its superjumbos after the engine explosion, which forced an emergency landing in Singapore.

 

The airline rose 1.8% to A$2.80 ($3.60) in Sydney trading, the first gain in four days.