Rolls-Royce says Garuda to continue operating A330s
Rolls-Royce says Garuda to continue operating A330s
HONG KONG (AFP): Rolls-Royce, the British manufacturer, said in a statement here yesterday that it had solved the design problem which had caused the incidents and led to the grounding of the 15 A330-300s of Cathay Pacific and Dragonair.
It said the problems had occurred in its Trent 700 engine, specifically in the lubrication of a gearbox supplied by Hispano Suiza.
But Rolls-Royce added that Garuda Indonesia, the only other airline currently operating Trent 700-powered A330s, and which has not suffered any inflight shutdowns, will be able to continue operations.
"Their engines will be closely monitored to ensure that their condition remains satisfactory," it said.
But a spokesman for Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department contended the territory was standing by a ban on Garuda flights.
It said it would await the results of tests by Cathay and Dragonair before reviewing its position regarding the Indonesian carrier.
A Garuda spokesperson welcomed the statement from Rolls-Royce but added that "actually, we do not have instruction from our head office in Jakarta and from Hong Kong government when services could be resumed for the Airbus A330s."
The gearbox is located alongside the engine, which provides the power to the planes' accessory functions.
It said no other Rolls-Royce powered aircraft types were affected by this problem.
The aircraft engine-maker said a design solution had been tested and shown to correct the problems, adding "deliveries of the modified equipment will commence in the next few days to allow resumption of operations at Cathay Pacific and Dragonair in the near future."
After a meeting in London between Rolls-Royce, Airbus Industrie and the French and British aviation authorities on Tuesday it was decided to withdraw the 11 Cathay and four Dragonair airplanes from service until the new parts are fitted, the statement said.
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair yesterday canceled another 18 flights as engineers said they had resolved a flawed engine component that had grounded their fleets of Airbus 330-300 jets.
The territory's aviation authorities meanwhile maintained their ban on identical jets flown by the Indonesian airline Garuda, despite reassurances from the engine-maker Rolls-Royce that those planes were safe.
"Every endeavor is being made to find alternative ways to get passengers to their destination, and some of these canceled sectors are being combined with other flights," Cathay said in a statement.
The airline has chartered planes from Singapore Airlines and Air Mauritius for services between Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta and Denpasar on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Taiwan's China Airlines will also operate certain extra Taipei-Hong Kong-Taipei sectors for Cathay.
The canceled services yesterday included long-haul flights to Amsterdam, Zurich, Manchester, Adelaide and Melbourne.
Others were services to Osaka, Nagoya, Colombo, Bangkok, Surabaya, Jakarta, and Taipei.
The airline said only nine passengers had to stay in hotels in Hong Kong on Tuesday as a result of the suspension of 22 flights, while another 98 passengers stayed overnight in hotels in Bali in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Cathay's sister airline Dragonair said it had suspended two flights on Wednesday.
Cathay has said it hopes to have its planes back in the air in three weeks, following tests by Rolls-Royce engineers.
Cathay and Dragonair decided on Saturday to ground the jets the day after a Dragonair flight to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia had to make an emergency landing at Subic Bay in the Philippines.
Cathay is the biggest operator of the Trent 700, but could be overtaken by Emirates Air which reportedly wants 23 aircraft fitted with Trent 700 engines.