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.