Months of disruption ahead as Air New Zealand grounds two Dreamliners
Air New Zealand said it will remove two Dreamliners from service meaning some disruption to flight schedules for ‘a number of months.’
Air NZ has completed inspections on affected Trent 1000 engines following a recent European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) directive but they will require maintenance and will stay out of service for several months.
"As a result of the checks two Air New Zealand 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft will be temporarily removed from service while engines undergo maintenance work at a Rolls-Royce facility in Singapore. Around 340 engines globally are subject to the checks and this is placing very high demand on Rolls-Royce’s maintenance facility, meaning it may take a number of months," the Kiwi flag carrier said in a statement.
That means further tweaking of its flight schedules and yet more cancellations are likely in the short term.
"Unfortunately this will mean disruption for our customers in the coming months as we adjust our schedule and fleet utilisation to accommodate these challenges and we thank our customers for their patience as we work through this," said the airline’s chief operational integrity and standards officer David Morgan.
Air NZ may again wet lease aircraft from Portuguese operator Hi Fly.
An airworthiness directive was updated by EASA last week regarding compressor blades of Package C Trent 1000 engines calling for more frequent inspections.
"Like Air New Zealand, aviation regulators prioritise safety over everything else. Customers travelling on our Dreamliner aircraft can be very confident in the integrity of the engines," Morgan added.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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