Rolls-Royce says Garuda to continue operating A330s<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (AFP): Rolls-Royce, the British manufacturer, said
\nin a statement here yesterday that it had solved the design
\nproblem which had caused the incidents and led to the grounding
\nof the 15 A330-300s of Cathay Pacific and Dragonair.<\/p>\n
It said the problems had occurred in its Trent 700 engine,
\nspecifically in the lubrication of a gearbox supplied by Hispano
\nSuiza.<\/p>\n
But Rolls-Royce added that Garuda Indonesia, the only other
\nairline currently operating Trent 700-powered A330s, and which
\nhas not suffered any inflight shutdowns, will be able to continue
\noperations.<\/p>\n
"Their engines will be closely monitored to ensure that their
\ncondition remains satisfactory," it said.<\/p>\n
But a spokesman for Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department
\ncontended the territory was standing by a ban on Garuda flights.<\/p>\n
It said it would await the results of tests by Cathay and
\nDragonair before reviewing its position regarding the Indonesian
\ncarrier.<\/p>\n
A Garuda spokesperson welcomed the statement from Rolls-Royce
\nbut added that "actually, we do not have instruction from our
\nhead office in Jakarta and from Hong Kong government when
\nservices could be resumed for the Airbus A330s."<\/p>\n
The gearbox is located alongside the engine, which provides
\nthe power to the planes' accessory functions.<\/p>\n
It said no other Rolls-Royce powered aircraft types were
\naffected by this problem.<\/p>\n
The aircraft engine-maker said a design solution had been
\ntested and shown to correct the problems, adding "deliveries of
\nthe modified equipment will commence in the next few days to
\nallow resumption of operations at Cathay Pacific and Dragonair in
\nthe near future."<\/p>\n
After a meeting in London between Rolls-Royce, Airbus
\nIndustrie and the French and British aviation authorities on
\nTuesday it was decided to withdraw the 11 Cathay and four
\nDragonair airplanes from service until the new parts are fitted,
\nthe statement said.<\/p>\n
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair yesterday canceled another 18
\nflights as engineers said they had resolved a flawed engine
\ncomponent that had grounded their fleets of Airbus 330-300 jets.<\/p>\n
The territory's aviation authorities meanwhile maintained
\ntheir ban on identical jets flown by the Indonesian airline
\nGaruda, despite reassurances from the engine-maker Rolls-Royce
\nthat those planes were safe.<\/p>\n
"Every endeavor is being made to find alternative ways to get
\npassengers to their destination, and some of these canceled
\nsectors are being combined with other flights," Cathay said in a
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
The airline has chartered planes from Singapore Airlines and
\nAir Mauritius for services between Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta
\nand Denpasar on the Indonesian island of Bali.<\/p>\n
Taiwan's China Airlines will also operate certain extra
\nTaipei-Hong Kong-Taipei sectors for Cathay.<\/p>\n
The canceled services yesterday included long-haul flights to
\nAmsterdam, Zurich, Manchester, Adelaide and Melbourne.<\/p>\n
Others were services to Osaka, Nagoya, Colombo, Bangkok,
\nSurabaya, Jakarta, and Taipei.<\/p>\n
The airline said only nine passengers had to stay in hotels in
\nHong Kong on Tuesday as a result of the suspension of 22 flights,
\nwhile another 98 passengers stayed overnight in hotels in Bali in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Cathay's sister airline Dragonair said it had
\nsuspended two flights on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Cathay has said it hopes to have its planes back in the air in
\nthree weeks, following tests by Rolls-Royce engineers.<\/p>\n
Cathay and Dragonair decided on Saturday to ground the jets
\nthe day after a Dragonair flight to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia had
\nto make an emergency landing at Subic Bay in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Cathay is the biggest operator of the Trent 700, but could be
\novertaken by Emirates Air which reportedly wants 23 aircraft
\nfitted with Trent 700 engines.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rolls-royce-says-garuda-to-continue-operating-a330s-1447893297",
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