Jul 10 (Kyodo) - ANA Holdings Inc. said Monday it will cancel 176 domestic flights between Friday and July 22 to inspect Rolls-Royce engines on Boeing 787 aircraft, after calling off 113 domestic flights for July for the same reason.
The cancellations, due to the need to check the Trent 1000 engine made by the British aircraft engine manufacturer, are expected to continue into August, ANA said, raising concern they might coincide with an annual exodus of travelers heading for hometowns during the Buddhist Bon holidays in mid-August.
The newly canceled flights for July connect Tokyo's Haneda airport and 11 domestic airports, including those in Fukuoka, Osaka and Hiroshima, affecting around 36,000 passengers.
ANA chose flights connecting big cities, where alternative transportation methods such as other airlines' flights and shinkansen bullet trains are available.
The company plans to announce cancellations for the July 23 to 31 period on Thursday and for August on July 17.
