TOKYO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- ANA Holdings Inc. on Thursday said it will cancel 330 domestic flights scheduled between July 23 and 31 to inspect the Rolls-Royce engines on its Boeing 787 aircraft.
ANA said the latest round of inspections will affect about 58,000 passengers planning to fly between 13 airports in Japan.
The total number of flights canceled due to the inspections since early July now stands at 619.
Japan's transport ministry has instructed ANA to conduct the inspections on its Rolls-Royce engines, as a possible design flaw could cause the rotor blades in the engines to crack.
ANA said it will announce another round of flight cancellations next week as the inspections will continue into August.
ANA chose to cancel flights connecting with big cities, where passengers can find alternative methods of transportation, such as other carriers or Shinkansen bullet trains, it said.
Concerns have been raised about the cancellations affecting flights during the busy Obon holiday period in mid-August, which sees many Japanese people returning from big cities to visit their hometowns and their relatives.
ANA has been fixing the potentially defective Trent 1000 engines made by the British aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, by replacing potentially faulty parts with new ones.
The components necessary for the replacements have been in short supply. However, ANA said, foreign carriers have also been carrying out similar inspections and replacements on their Boeing 787 Dreamliners, while their fleets are grounded.
