Cathay Pacific and Dragonair are hoping that fitting modified engine-gearboxes to their Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered Airbus Industrie A330-300s will clear the way for the grounded aircraft to return to service by early this week.
Both carriers voluntarily grounded their 15 A330s on 24 May, following an inflight engine shutdown the previous day.
The two have suffered five inflight engine shutdowns since November 1996 - four the result of bearing failures. After the fourth incident on 9 May, involving a Cathay A330 en route from Bangkok to Hong Kong, the airline suspended extended-range twin-engined operations of more than 60min (Flight International, 21-27 May). Garuda, the other Trent 700-powered A330 operator, continues to fly its aircraft.
Operations have been disrupted, with Cathay Pacific alone having to cancel nearly 100 flights in the first six days. Its 11 A330s account for 17% of the fleet and some 15% of seat capacity.
Dragonair has had similar problems because of its reliance on the A330 on main trunk routes to Beijing, Kaohsiung and Shanghai.
The grounding comes in the run-up to the busiest time in the airline's history as the UK prepares to hand back Hong Kong to China at the end of the month.
The carriers have tried to make up the shortfall, initially by transferring passengers to other airlines and, more recently, by chartering replacement aircraft.
Neither Cathay nor R-R will comment on the issue of compensation, saying that their prime concerns have been to focus on a solution to the problem.
Source: Flight International
