Qatar Airways has struck an agreement to become the airline partner of Europe’s premier club competition UEFA Champions League until 2030, the Gulf airlines announced on Thursday. The deal will see Qatar’s national carrier become UEFA’s partner for top-tier tournaments for both club and country, having partnered with the European football’s governing body’s Euro 2024 earlier this year and Euro 2020 in 2021. The deal will also grant Qatar Airways sponsorship rights over UEFA’s other tournaments, including the UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Youth League and UEFA Futsal Champions League. Qatar Airways replaces Turkey’s flag bearer Turkish Airlines, which had become the first carrier to partner with UEFA in 2022. “[The agreement] not only strengthens our connection with Europe but also aligns perfectly with our vision of fostering unity and celebrating excellence,” the CEO of Qatar Airways, Badr Mohammed Al-Meer said. The partnership will allow Qatar Airways to “extend its foothold in the European region”, the statement added.<br/>
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An engine fire on a Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 earlier this month was the result of a fuel leak and could have caused extensive damage to the plane, according to investigators. Hong Kong’s flagship airline grounded planes after being forced to turn a flight around a couple of weeks ago because of an "engine component failure". The Trent XWB-97 engine was made by British engineering giant Rolls-Royce. A preliminary report by Hong Kong's Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the incident was caused by a broken fuel hose - one of a number that had been damaged. Rolls-Royce and Cathay Pacific both said they were continuing to support the investigation. The incident occurred shortly after the plane had taken off from Hong Kong en route to Zurich in early September. The pilots received a fire warning in the cockpit, shut down the engine and deployed fire extinguishers. The aircraft, which was carrying 348 passengers and crew, landed safely back in Hong Kong. But the incident raised concerns over the safety of the engines used across Cathay Pacific's A350 fleet, particularly after checks revealed issues on another 15 aircraft. The preliminary report found that the protective surround of a fuel hose had ruptured, leaving "a discernible hole in the hose". There were signs of a fire in parts of the engine, including soot and burn marks. Further checks revealed another five fuel hoses in the same engine were also defective. If not promptly detected and addressed, the report said, this situation could have escalated "into a more serious engine fire, potentially causing extensive damage to the aircraft." To address the problem, the AAIA recommended that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) require Rolls-Royce to develop new inspection requirements for the relevant engines.<br/>