Air New Zealand pulls two planes over engine troubles

The airline’s troubles will extend into next week as the 787-9 aircraft’s Trent 1000 engines continue to wreak havoc.

Approximately 9,000 passengers were affected by altered flight times last week. Picture: Simon Casson

Air New Zealand’s flight troubles will extend into next week as the 787-9 aircraft’s troubled Trent 1000 engines continue to wreak havoc for the airline with two planes temporarily removed from service.

The news comes after approximately 9,000 passengers flying to the USA via Los Angeles and Houston and to Tokyo’s Haneda airport were affected by altered flight times last week due to issues with the Rolls-Royce engines.

A directive issued by the Federal Aviation Administration concerning weight restrictions meant some flights to Asian destinations had to stop for refuelling at Sydney, Cairns, Darwin and Guam. Customers who missed their connecting flights as a result of the fuel stop had their flights rebooked.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said two of the planes had been withdrawn while their engines were serviced in Singapore.

“As a result of the checks Air New Zealand has carried out on some of the Trent 1000 engines fitted to its 787-9 Dreamliner fleet, two Air New Zealand Dreamliner aircraft have been temporarily removed from service while engines undergo maintenance work at a Rolls-Royce facility in Singapore” she said.

A travel alert issued by the airlines yesterday said international flights were being cancelled and rescheduled due to the ongoing issue with the engines.

“Air New Zealand has retimed some international flights and made a limited number of cancellations between today and mid next week due to a global issue requiring earlier than expected maintenance on some of the Trent 1000 engines fitted to its 787-9 aircraft.”