Hong Kong, June 1: Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Saturday that the grounding of its Airbus A330-300 fleet would slice between HK$120 million and HK$150 million from its bottom line this year.

"The figure that I am working on as far as the impact on the bottom line is between I would guess about HK$120-150 million and I am confident that we will be somewhere between that range," chairman Peter Sutch told reporters.Cathay Pacific and its 25.5 per cent-owned Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd (Dragonair) grounded their fleet of Airbus Industrie A330-300 twin-engined aircraft a week ago after problems with Rolls-Royce PlcTrent 700 engines prompted a series of single-engine landings.

Sutch said about 100 flights had been cancelled since Cathay Pacific's fleet of 11 A330-300 aircraft was grounded last Saturday. The engine problems stem from the lubrication system used in the Trent 700 gearbox and Cathay Pacific said it was due to receive replacement parts for the gearbox on Sunday.

Sutch said aviation authorities were expected to approve Rolls-Royce's solution to the engine problem during the early part of next week, allowing Cathay Pacific to resume Airbus operations within the next two weeks.

"We would expect to see the fleet and Dragonair's back in service again within a couple of weeks," he said. The final loss would depend on how long it would take to get the grounded fleet back into service and whether passengers who had changed their flight plans would return to the carrier.Sutch said the estimated loss did not include any compensation for the service disruption which Cathay Pacific may get from its suppliers. Cathay Pacific said last week it may seek compensation from Rolls-Royce for losses incurred.

"We would expect our suppliers to recognise the disruptions that they have caused," Sutch said on Saturday. "Of course Rolls-Royce is not the only supplier - they arethe main engine manufacturer - but there are other suppliers."

Sutch said Cathay Pacific was not having second thoughts about current aircraft orders involving Rolls-Royce Trent engines but would take the current engine crisis into account when ordering in the future. Its next decision on aircraft options and new orders would be made in the autumn of this year.

"Whenever we place a new order of aircraft - either more of the same or another type - we always evaluate the engine type."

"I would be lying to you if I did not say that this experience would not be taken into account," said Sutch.

But he said the Airbus A330-300 had proven very reliable and popular with Cathay Pacific's customers.

"We are going to continue I believe to buy aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing." Sutch said Cathay's current engine crisis should not have a lingering impact on the airline.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.