European regulator EASA issued a directive requiring operators of a type of Trent 1000 engine known as ‘Package C’ to carry out earlier than usual maintenance checks on a specific part of the engine compressor.The airline is currently carrying out checks and has today rescheduled a number of international services and cancelled a small number of services through to mid next week, impacting around 6,500 passengers in total.Any further impact to Air New Zealand’s schedule will be determined after required engine checks have been completed on Friday evening.Air New Zealand General Manager Customer Experience Anita Hawthorne says the airline is doing all it can to minimise the impact of the checks on its customers.“This is a particularly busy time on our network and we are conscious many Kiwis are heading away for the school holidays. We sincerely apologise for any disruption to our customers’ travel plans and we thank them for their patience.“Although the requirement for engine checks is outside of our control we are doing all we can to reduce any impact, by making changes to our schedule to allow us to keep cancellations to a minimum.”Customers impacted by the changes are being contacted directly by Air New Zealand or by the travel agent they booked through and being offered a range of options.Air New Zealand anticipates high caller demand for its contact centre over this time and customers are advised to avoid calling unless necessary.

{ A Air New Zealand release }  ||  April 18, 2018   |||

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