Fleet issues to constrain Air New Zealand capacity growth
August 29, 2024
Air New Zealand expects capacity growth for the year ending June 2025 to be flat or down one percent due to maintenance requirements on its Airbus A321neos and Boeing 787s, while the delivery timeline for its new 787s has been stretched out by a year. The airline says that up to six A321neos have been out of service at a time due to accelerated inspections and maintenance required on their Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-series engines. "Ongoing additional maintenance requirements on the Trent 1000 engines that power the existing Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet and reduced levels of spares in the market have meant that up to three Dreamliners are also on the ground at times," Air New Zealand states. Chief executive Greg Foran says the airline has worked to mitigate lower aircraft availability levels. "We took immediate action to minimise the disruption, leasing three Boeing 777-300ERs, securing additional spare engines and adjusting our network and schedule to deliver greater reliability," he says. Nonetheless, capacity is expected to be flat or down up to three percent on its long-haul network this fiscal year, offsetting the domestic and Tasman and Pacific islands markets where capacity is expected to remain steady, or rise by up to three percent. In part, long-haul capacity will also be impacted by the start of a retrofit programme for its 14 Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered 787s from early in the 2025 calendar year, which will take around three years to complete Air New Zealand is also anticipating further delays in the delivery of its eight GE Aviation GEnx-powered 787s, the first of which – a 787-9 – is expected towards the end of the 2025 calendar year. It now expects to receive two aircraft instead of four in the 2026 fiscal year; three instead of two the year after; one instead of two in FY2028 and two in FY2029. Air New Zealand forecasts that its fleet investment will total NZ$3.2 billion ($2.01 billion) through to 2029. The airline also notes that its seven 777-300ERs could remain operational until 2030.
Air Corsica receives ATR 72-600
August 28, 2024
Air Corsica has taken delivery of an ATR 72-600 turboprop from the manufacturer. ATR says this marks the delivery of its 1,700th aircraft and completes the French carrier's transition of its fleet of ATR -500 series to the latest generation of turboprop aircraft. With this delivery, the airline now operates seven ATR 72-600s, powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW127XT engines, it adds. It notes that Air Corsica was the first operator to take delivery of an ATR 72-600 equipped with the new PW127XT engine in November 2022. "Completing our fleet renewal with the ATR 72-600 is a pivotal moment for Air Corsica, reflecting our commitment to providing the best possible service to our passengers and supporting the economic vitality of our island," states president of Air Corsica's supervisory board Marie-Helene Casanova-Servas.
Three hail-damaged WestJet aircraft return to service
August 28, 2024
WestJet has returned to service three aircraft that were damaged during a hailstorm in Calgary on 5 August. There are still 14 aircraft out of service and the Canadian carrier will continue issuing "proactive cancellations for the foreseeable future" as its Tech Ops team continues to work on returning the remaining damaged units to service. WestJet did not provide details of which aircraft had returned to service. It had previously assessed 16 aircraft had received "significant hail damage" as of 7 August, but it subsequently increased that to 17.