The U.S. aviation regulator decided to allow over 130 Boeing Co 777 airplanes to continue flying international trips through early 2011, despite warnings about suspect parts that have caused rare shutdowns in midair, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In July, the Federal Aviation Administration had asked Boeing to install redesigned cooling systems on some of its jets with Rolls Royce made engines by January 2011, to prevent the accumulation of ice inside the pipes of the fuel systems.

The later regulatory deadline is due to the limited availability of replacement parts, the Journal said, citing industry officials.

FAA did not immediately comment on the matter.

The Journal said that according to the FAA, interim operational safeguards that were previously imposed provided an adequate safety margin to put off permanent hardware fixes until January 2011.

FAA turned down recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board to order the replacement of parts on at least one of the two engines on each affected Boeing 777 aircraft, the paper said.

Boeing could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Deepti Govind in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)

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