Engine Trouble Grounds Some Air New Zealand Flights

WELLINGTON, New Zealand-- Air New Zealand experienced two separate issues with engines on Boeing 787-9 aircraft this week that forced the planes to turn back to Auckland.

The airline said Thursday it was canceling and rescheduling some flights over the next few days after Rolls-Royce advised that some of the Trent 1000 engines used on the planes would require maintenance earlier than expected.

"It's not uncommon for long-term engine programs to experience technical issues during their life and we manage them through proactive maintenance. Trent 1000 is now approaching six years of revenue service, " a Rolls-Royce spokeswoman said in a statement.

Two Air New Zealand planes had to turn back from flights to Tokyo and Buenos Aires this week. Investigators inspected the engines on the two aircraft within an hour of their landing, according to a spokesman for New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

Air New Zealand didn't disclose the nature of the two events, but the TAIC website said it is investigating two events involving "engine abnormalities."

The airline said Rolls-Royce doesn't have any replacement engines available while maintenance work is undertaken so schedule changes are unavoidable.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand-- Air New Zealand experienced two separate issues with engines on Boeing 787-9 aircraft this week that forced the planes to turn back to Auckland.

The airline said Thursday it was canceling and rescheduling some flights over the next few days after Rolls-Royce advised that some of the Trent 1000 engines used on the planes would require maintenance earlier than expected.

"It's not uncommon for long-term engine programs to experience technical issues during their life and we manage them through proactive maintenance. Trent 1000 is now approaching six years of revenue service, " a Rolls-Royce spokeswoman said in a statement.

Two Air New Zealand planes had to turn back from flights to Tokyo and Buenos Aires this week. Investigators inspected the engines on the two aircraft within an hour of their landing, according to a spokesman for New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

Air New Zealand didn't disclose the nature of the two events, but the TAIC website said it is investigating two events involving "engine abnormalities."

The airline said Rolls-Royce doesn't have any replacement engines available while maintenance work is undertaken so schedule changes are unavoidable.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 06, 2017 23:59 ET (04:59 GMT)