Airport heavy maintenance facility confirms Nelson exit

Air NZ will be moving its regional heavy maintenance facility from Nelson, resulting in the loss of 89 jobs in the region. The airline put forward the proposal in order to cut costs last month, and after consulting with unions and stakeholders on Thursday this week confirmed the proposal, despite a 16,000-strong petition against the move. Turboprop heavy maintenance will be moved to Christchurch airport, while line maintenance will continue in Nelson. Heavy maintenance work will start moving to Christchurch later this year, but the process is expected to take more than six months. Air New Zealand said the disruption from covid-19 meant that “for the foreseeable future Air New Zealand will be a much smaller airline requiring fewer maintenance demands”. “Demand for aircraft maintenance contract work has deteriorated, including in Nelson. Following consultation and a review of alternative feedback and options, there were considerations to increase maintenance demand in Nelson, however, due to runway constraints (being too short to allow Air New Zealand A320 and A321 aircraft) additional maintenance is unable to be relocated to Nelson.” Heavy maintenance of turboprop aircraft, ATR and Q300 planes, will move to Christchurch, with just line maintenance retained in Nelson at Air New Zealand Regional Maintenance.<br/>