Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific has temporarily grounded its fleet of A350 aircraft for inspections after a “first of its type” engine component failure forced a flight to Zurich to turn back on Monday. Cathay is conducting fleet-wide inspection of its 48 Airbus A350 aircraft and “a number of aircraft will be out of service for several days”, the airline said in a statement Monday night. The airline has cancelled 24 return flights up until the end of Tuesday, it added. Eight of Cathay’s nine flights from Hong Kong to Singapore on Tuesday were axed, according to the airline’s website. Flights to Bangkok, Tokyo, Taipei and Osaka were cancelled as well. The move came after a Cathay flight to Zurich on Monday was forced to return and the company identified an engine component failure, it said, without saying which component.