Air NZ to restart Hobart service in October

Air New Zealand will recommence flights between Auckland and Hobart in October after they were paused from this month due to engine maintenance issues. The three-times-weekly route will operate between October and March in the summer months — the same schedule that will be applied to another restarted service to Seoul. It comes after Australian Aviation reported in November that the Tasmanian service would be temporarily cancelled due to changes in the maintenance plan for Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) engines used on its A320neo and A321neos. The problems involved a “rare condition” on the powder metal used for certain parts that were thought to affect up to 700 GTF engines over the next three years. “While this maintenance issue does not present a safety issue, it has caused Air New Zealand to revise its flight schedule as a result of adjustments made to the engine maintenance plan,” CEO Greg Foran said last year. Despite the good news, Air New Zealand also revealed it would extend a pause on flights to Chicago due to a separate issue affecting the availability of serviceable Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines powering its 787-9s.<br/>