Air NZ flights in turmoil as engine issues drag on
Air New Zealand is cancelling dozens of international flights, affecting 14,000 passengers, because of issues affecting Boeing Dreamliner engines globally.
Yesterday, the airline said RollsRoyce engines fitted to its 787-9 Dreamliner fleet were waiting to be serviced by the British manufacturer but a backlog had delayed maintenance.
As a result Air New Zealand was suspending its twice-weekly seasonal Christchurch to Perth service, resulting in the cancellation of 62 flights.
It was also cancelling its second daily Auckland to Perth service from December 10 until January 5.
Auckland to Sydney services and Auckland to Tonga services have also been affected and the airline warned there may be further changes.
Since late 2017 Air New Zealand and other international airlines flying Dreamliners have been plagued by issues affecting Rolls-Royce engines fitted to the modern aircraft.
The engine issues impacted Air New Zealand’s 2019 network and operating costs, with 2500 flights disrupted and 150 cancelled, the airline said in May.
Air New Zealand said it had 10 RollsRoyce Trent 1000 TEN engines fitted to its 787-9 fleet. It said Rolls-Royce required operators to carry out more frequent maintenance because of an issue with the engine’s high-pressure turbine blades.
‘‘Rolls-Royce does not have any replacement engines available while maintenance work is undertaken and has advised Air New Zealand there’s significant wait for repair services.’’
Air New Zealand spokesman Doug Grant said about 14,000 customers would be impacted by cancellations.
‘‘Going into the holiday season, we’re acutely aware how important travel is to our customers, and our schedule changes are designed to keep cancellations to a minimum,’’ he said.
The airline would start processing changes to customers’ bookings this week and then directly contact customers affected by these changes with new travel information.
Grant said that while the airline never expected to still be facing issues with its Rolls-Royce engines, it was well placed to operate with the least impact to customers.
Air New Zealand senior fleet manager Dave Wilson said the airline had been performing regular precautionary checks on its Trent 1000 TEN engines since April and had been doing all it could to fast-track required maintenance from Rolls-Royce.
‘‘Based on the maintenance needs of our engines, we expect some will need to be inspected in December and January and then serviced by Rolls-Royce offshore and unfortunately Rolls-Royce has no capacity to alleviate this pressure,’’ Wilson said.
Air New Zealand had 14 787-9 Dreamliners in its fleet and there were four spare engines to power them, he said.
‘‘However, all these spare engines are with Rolls Royce offshore either undergoing service or waiting for a service slot.’’