Airlines Told to Replace Certain Rolls-Royce Engines by European Safety Officials

European air-safety officials on Thursday ordered airlines to potentially replace early some Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (RR.LN) engines used on Boeing Co. (BA) 787 Dreamliner planes amid concern they could fail in flight.

The Cologne, Germany-based European Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, had earlier warned about problems with Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000 engine and elevated its concerns Thursday. The organization said that after further assessment more restrictive limits were being imposed on the engines to avoid component failure.

Airlines are being asked to regularly check the engines and if certain problems are found to swap out affected versions.

Rolls-Royce had previously taken a hit in its earnings because of problems on the Trent 1000, particularly faster-than-expected failure of some components. The British aircraft engine maker said Thursday that "this directive mandates action we are taking as part of the continual development of our proactive engine-management program." It did not specify what costs may be linked to the action.

Several airlines have faced flight disruptions because of problems with the engine.

Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 21, 2017 09:58 ET (14:58 GMT)