Air NZ extends grounding

Air New Zealand is grounding its Boeing 777 fleet for at least another year with recovery of the airline’s international network predicted to be slower than initially thought. Air New Zealand said it had grounded its 777 fleet until at least September 2021 due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19. Air New Zealand has eight 777-200ERs (four owned, four leased), and seven 777-300ERs (four owned, three leased). In May the airline initially grounded the majority of its 777-300 aircraft until the end of the 2020 calendar year and indicated to analysts that its 777-200ERs were no longer needed. Chief operating officer Carrie Hurihanganui said the recovery of the airline’s international network post-Covid-19 was now looking to be slower than initially thought. ‘‘The recent resurgence of cases in New Zealand is a reminder that this is a highly volatile situation. We are not anticipating a return to any 777 flying until September 2021 at the earliest, which is why we have made the decision to ground the fleet until at least this time next year.’’ Two weeks ago Air New Zealand posted a full year loss of $454 million, its first since 2002. Four of its 777-300 aircraft will go to a storage facility at Victorville in the Californian desert. The remaining three will stay in Auckland where they would be returned to service if required. The 777-200 aircraft will be sent to storage facilities in both Roswell, New Mexico, and Victorville from later this month.