Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) has announced further schedule changes as a result of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN issues which have beset B787 operators across the world.

Rolls-Royce requires operators of these engines to carry out more regular maintenance due to an issue with the engine's high-pressure turbine (HPT) blades. The engine manufacturer does not have any replacement units available while maintenance work is undertaken and has advised Air New Zealand that there is a significant wait for repairs.

The airline has ten Trent 1000 TEN engines fitted to its B787-9 fleet and has been working to minimise disruption but schedule changes are now unavoidable. There is no impact to the airline's 22 Trent 1000 Package C model engines as a result of the HPT blade issue.

Air New Zealand has been managing issues with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines since December 2017, when it first secured lease capacity to help maintain its timetable. The airline still has one B777-300(ER) aircraft on lease from EVA Air (BR, Taipei Taoyuan) in its fleet.

Air New Zealand Senior Fleet Manager, B787 Captain Dave Wilson, says the airline has been performing regular precautionary checks on its TEN engines since April and has been doing all it can to fast-track required maintenance from Rolls-Royce.

"Based on the maintenance needs of our engines, we expect some will need to be inspected in December and January and then serviced by Rolls-Royce offshore and unfortunately, Rolls-Royce has no capacity to alleviate this pressure."

"We have fourteen B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft in our fleet and four spare engines to power these. However, all these spare engines are with Rolls-Royce offshore either undergoing service or waiting for a service slot.”

The carrier announced on November 18 that selected services during its summer schedule will be affected. The most noticeable alteration is the suspension of the 2x weekly seasonal service between Christchurch and Perth International, resulting in the cancellation of 62 flights. Air New Zealand will also cancel its second daily Auckland-Perth service between December 10, 2019, and January 5, 2020. The airline will continue to operate its 1110L Auckland International to Perth International and 1850L Perth to Auckland services as scheduled.

Outside of its Perth routes, a limited number of international cancellations will also take place from December 10 until January 2 as follows:

  • Auckland to Sydney Kingsford Smith: Flight NZ105 cancelled on December 29;
  • Sydney-Auckland: Flight NZ108 cancelled on December 29;
  • Auckland-Sydney: Flight NZ107 cancelled on December 12 and January 2, 2020;
  • Auckland-Sydney: Flight NZ109 cancelled on December 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, and 29;
  • Sydney-Auckland: Flight NZ110 cancelled on December 12 and January 2, 2020;
  • Sydney-Auckland: Flight NZ112 cancelled December 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, and 29;
  • Auckland-Tongatapu: Flight NZ270 cancelled on December 30;
  • Tongatapu-Auckland: Flight NZ273 cancelled on December 30.

Further schedule changes may also be required as the carrier progresses the engine checks.

The airline has estimated that “around 14,000 customers” will be impacted by the schedule adjustments. Air New Zealand will start processing changes to customers' bookings this week and then directly contact customers affected by these changes with new travel information.