TUI fly Belgium managed to put one of its three Embraer E195-E2 jets back into service on Monday.
The aircraft, registered OO-ETA, took over the flight between Brussels and Malaga ten days after being sent for maintenance on its Pratt & Whitney GTF engines.
For now, the 136-seat jet is based in Brussels instead of Antwerp, where TUI used to base the three aircraft and which are capable of operating from the local airport, whose longest runway is only 1,500 meters long.
Follow Air Data News: WhatsApp | Google News | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
The other two E195-E2s remained out of service until August 6. The OO-ETB jet has not performed a review flight since July 22, while the OO-ETC has been grounded for months.
Contaminated powder metal
In a statement, TUI said that the engines had a lubrication problem, but did not detail what caused it.
Some E2 jets need to undergo a recall on the PW1900G turbofans, which have a problem with contaminated powder metal.
Parts such as stage disks in the high pressure turbine may crack at shorter intervals than the scheduled overhauls.
The situation is that Pratt & Whitney has many engines to inspect and repair and few places to carry out this work, although it recently opened its 18th repair shop in Portugal.
In short, aircraft such as the Embraer E2 and the Airbus A220 and A320neo family are spending a lot of time on the ground waiting for the problem to be fixed.
The PW1900G engine, which powers the new E-Jets, is less affected by the problem since it operates at less demanding regimes, but it also needs to be recalled.
TUI’s three E195-E2s were leased by AerCap after being returned by Belavia in late 2021.
