Air New Zealand could face fresh problem with Rolls-Royce engines on Dreamliners after Singapore Airlines grounds planes

Technicians check a Rolls-Royce Trent engine. Photo / Supplied

Problems with engines used on some Air New Zealand Dreamliners have forced Singapore Airlines to ground two of its planes.

Rolls-Royce has told Air New Zealand of an issue with the newer version Trent 1000 TEN engines and the airline is waiting for further advice.

Air New Zealand has eight of the engines for its 13 Dreamliners and the alert comes after earlier model engines suffered problems which led to the grounding of planes here and significant disruption which has cost the airline tens of millions of dollars.

Singapore Airlines says that during routine inspections of its Trent 1000 TEN engines premature deterioration of the high pressure turbine blades had been detected.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman this afternoon said the affect on the airline was not known but no similar problems had been found with its engines.

''Rolls-Royce advised us yesterday it is investigating an issue impacting some Trent 1000 TEN engines in Singapore Airlines' fleet. We are awaiting advice from Rolls-Royce on any impact this may have on us.''

Air New Zealand was badly hit by problems with earlier model Trent 1000 Package C engines which forced the grounding of up to four planes at a time over the last 16 months, major schedule disruptions and meant the airline had to charter older aircraft to plug gaps.

Affected planes were prevented by regulators from flying on some routes that were far from airports in the event of an emergency and any further problems would be a big setback for the airline which had hoped to have put the worst of the problem behind it.

The problem has cost the airline between $30 million and $40 million so far.

It was revealed overnight that Singapore Airlines' planes suffered high pressure turbine (HPT) blade problems.

"During recent routine inspections of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engines on Singapore Airlines' Boeing 787-10 fleet, premature blade deterioration was found on some engines," the airline said..

Rolls-Royce said it will accelerate a programme to install redesigned blades on some of its Trent 1000 engines.

Bloomberg reports the latest setback came after the British engine maker sampled a small number of the global fleet that had "flown in more arduous conditions".

Singapore Airlines said it has inspected nearly all of its planes and a remaining check will be completed on a 787-9 aircraft of its Scoot budget carrier by Wednesday.

The two aircraft that were grounded were part of a nine-strong 787-10 fleet that are just a year old on average.