Delays loom for Air NZ flights

By SCOTT MacLEOD transport reporter

Air New Zealand international flights may be delayed by up to three hours tomorrow, as the airline juggles aircraft to help its troubled subsidiary, Ansett Australia.

Yesterday was a good day for Ansett. The first of 10 grounded jets was cleared for takeoff by safety officials, and the airline apparently escaped a notice that would have given it two weeks to prove why it should keep its licence.

But Air NZ said that today it would recall a Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet it had lent to Ansett in Australia and replace it with a Boeing 767-300. The switch was causing problems with Sunday's international schedule, which meant some flights could be delayed.

Spokesman Cameron Hill said yesterday that it was too early for Air NZ to know which flights would be affected. Passengers would be advised when they checked in.

There should be no problems with domestic flights.

Ansett has been forced to borrow planes from Air NZ, Air Canada and Singapore Air since its aircraft were grounded on April 12.

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority ordered the groundings after cracks were found in the engine mountings of three of the jets and another flew eight times withits safety ramps out of action.

Casa inspectors cleared the first of the Boeings to fly at 3 pm NZ time yesterday. It was immediately rushed into service, and within two hours had left Melbourne Airport for Sydney with 170 passengers.

The bad news for Ansett is that inspectors are likely to take three weeks or more to clear all the remaining jets.

Ansett spokeswoman Rosie Flay said the airline used its remaining 54 planes and borrowed jets to fly 35,000 passengers yesterday, with few problems. Having the first 767back was great news, she said.

The clearance was one of two big breakthroughs for Ansett. The other was that by late afternoon Casa was yet to impose its threatened "show cause" notice that would have given the airline just two weeks to explain why it should keep its licence.

However, Casa spokeswoman Jane Dargaville warned: "The day's not over yet."

She said Ansett and Casa chiefs were still negotiating a series of safety measures that the airline would have to introduce to escape the notice.