Sky Shuttle, whose services have been disrupted by the grounding of some of its helicopters, is facing an acute increase in operating costs next year that may force the operator out of business.
The firm is owned by Chan Un-chan, the third wife of casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun.
The company has five Agusta-Westland139 helicopters operating services between Hong Kong and Macau and they have to undergo thorough checks to replace tail rotor blades that have exceeded 600 flight hours or 1,500 flight cycles.
This is in compliance with the emergency airworthiness directives ordered by several aviation regulators including the European Aviation Safety Agency on August 25.
The directives came after an AW139 plunged into Victoria Harbour in July last year, followed by five other accidents which killed at least nine people this year in China, Brazil and South Korea.
According to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD), four of the five aircraft operated by Sky Shuttle have reached their service life limit set under the airworthiness directives and are required to replace the tail rotor blades.