03 March 2009

Delays after fuel leak on Qantas Heathrow flight

A Qantas A380 aircraft was taken out of service at London Heathrow yesterday (Monday) after passengers had waited more than 12 hours for a fuel leak to be repaired.

The Melbourne Age reported that after an all night wait for Qantas Flight 10 from London to Melbourne to get off the ground, passengers were told that the leak from the A380's fuel system could not be repaired in time.

The airline was forced to transfer passengers to a Boeing 747, which eventually departed nearly 13 hours late.

A Qantas spokeswoman said it was natural to expect "the occasional shake down" with a new aircraft and the airline "was working with Airbus to resolve the issues.Ã¢â¬~

Qantas has further reduced its international fuel surcharges, effective today.

Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti, said" Ã¢â¬ÅâœWith recent falls in oil prices, we removed domestic fuel surcharges on 1 January and have now reduced international surcharges three times since October 2008."

Examples of the new charges: UK/Europe surcharge falls from A$160 to A$95; New Zealand surcharge falls from A$55 to A$30 and the Asia Pacific and Honolulu surcharge eases from A$95 to A$55.

By Travelmole Australia