NZ cancels 82 flights 10 Dec - 5 Jan inclusive

[Melburnian1]

I posted in the 'Air NZ delays/cancellations' thread but some may not see it there:

Air NZ cancels 82 international flights over Christmas period due to engines

The national carrier says maintenance requirements has forced it to cancel some 82 flights, affecting 14,000 customers travelling between 10 December and 5 January.

www.rnz.co.nz

 

[Melburnian1]

There are additional reports in the Australian media but some are paywalled, unlike the above.

 

[Max Samuels]

"The most affected route is Air NZ's twice-weekly seasonal Christchurch-Perth service, resulting in the cancellation of 62 flights"....

I don't understand that math.... 2x/week = 4 flights a week (there and back). How did they come with 62 flights??? That would mean more than 15 weeks of cancelled flights, yet they are only talking about a period of less than 4 weeks?

Confused.

 

[woodborer]

AFAIK< the seasonal Perth-Christchurch flights have been pulled altogether this summer (DEC-APR)

 

[eric2011]

This is the release ANZ sent to me this morning

Kia ora Like many other airlines around the world, for the past couple of years we’ve been managing challenges with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our Boeing 787-9 aircraft. We thought these issues were almost behind us, however Rolls-Royce has informed us that our newer Trent 1000 TEN engines also require maintenance earlier than expected. Alongside this, Rolls-Royce has told us it doesn’t have the capacity to do this maintenance work quickly, as we are just one of many airlines affected globally. Our Senior Fleet Manager 787 Captain Dave Wilson gives more information on the issue in this video. Some of our flights will be impacted this summer. Getting customers to their destinations is our top priority. We’re doing all we can to minimise disruption, but unfortunately we need to make a limited number of cancellations and changes to some flights over summer. Most of these changes are contained to our Perth flights and we estimate around 14,000 customers will be impacted by cancellations. Flights within New Zealand will not be affected. We are deeply disappointed to be in this position again, but safety is paramount and non-negotiable. If your flight is disrupted, we will be in touch. We will contact you directly over the coming days if your flight is affected to help arrange alternative flights. If you have booked via a travel agent, they will be in touch. The travel alerts section of our website will be continuously updated with the latest schedule information and if you haven’t already, we recommend signing up for this free service. Thank you for your patience. We are very mindful how important travel is to our customers at this time of year and appreciate your support as we work through these challenges. Mā te wā, Jeff McDowall Air New Zealand Acting Chief Executive Officer

 

[Melburnian1]

Would it typically rebook PER to CHC passengers on QFd PER to MEL or SYD, and then NZ over to CHC?

 

[Max Samuels]

Would it typically rebook PER to CHC passengers on QFd PER to MEL or SYD, and then NZ over to CHC?

I imagine they would want to keep you on NZ metal, so PER-AKL-CHC I would guess.....

 

[eric2011]

I imagine they would want to keep you on NZ metal, so PER-AKL-CHC I would guess.....

Looks like those flights will be halved

"Air NZ said it would cancel its second daily Auckland-Perth service from 10 December 2019 until 5 January 2020, but continue to operate its 11.10am Auckland-Perth and 6.50pm Perth-Auckland services as scheduled."

 

[henrus]

82 is an understatement.

It's actually 136 flights.

I shared this on flyertalk this morning (quoting myself)

Complete cancelation of CHC-PER-CHC will mean 62 canceled flights. The cancelation of the 2nd daily (between 10 Dec and 5 Jan) from AKL-PER-AKL is another 54 flights gone. There is also 18 canceled on the AKL-SYD-AKL (varying dates) and a 30 Dec AKL-TBU-AKL flight gone.

All up 136 flights canceled over arguably the busiest time and the email just send out suggests 14,000 people are impacted although I don't believe that because that suggests loads were only around 120 people per flight (If you just count the Perth flights).

 

[Danger]

This is the release ANZ sent to me this morning

How refreshing to read a media release that's to the point and free from puff. Simple words and phrases that the average Jo uses ("We thought these issues were behind us") and a complete avoidance of trying to dress mutton as lamb. Really spot-on in my opinion.

 

[RooFlyer]

How refreshing to read a media release that's to the point and free from puff. Simple words and phrases that the average Jo uses ("We thought these issues were behind us") and a complete avoidance of trying to dress mutton as lamb. Really spot-on in my opinion.

Agreed. If that was from you-know-who, it would be labelled as a 'climate enhancement' "We are listening to passengers who are telling us they actually don't want to fly anywhere, and we are doing something about it ..."

 

[mrmerc500]

This will be a massive disruption for our Kiwi friends in Perth, I know there is huge demand for travel back to NZ and looking at the price & length of transits involved, it is certainly high & inconvenient.
When QF were operating the seasonal Auckland Route, you could obtain J for $990, would be great if QF could launch some last minute direct flights considering the dramas that AirNZ are facing.

 

[pauly7]

This will be a massive disruption for our Kiwi friends in Perth, I know there is huge demand for travel back to NZ and looking at the price & length of transits involved, it is certainly high & inconvenient.
When QF were operating the seasonal Auckland Route, you could obtain J for $990, would be great if QF could launch some last minute direct flights considering the dramas that AirNZ are facing.

I’m sure the super flexible and customer centric Perth Airport would be more than happy to help out too