Air New Zealand ground ATR fleet - Cracks around cockpit windows

[Bernie P]

ABOUT 3000 passengers have been affected by the grounding of Air New Zealand's ATR fleet, after cracks were found around the cockpit windows in one aircraft.

The 68-seat turboprops service regional routes for Air NZ subsidiary Mount Cook Airlines.

The cracks were found during a routine maintenance check in Christchurch, prompting Air NZ to ground all 11 ATRs in the fleet and cancel most flights today, Mount Cook general manager Sarah Williamson said.

About 60 flights were cancelled affecting about 3000 customers, she said in a statement.

Two of the planes had passed inspection standards and were put back in service today.

Tomorrow, these would be supplemented with other Air NZ aircraft, allowing Mount Cook to operate with about two-thirds of its normal seat capacity, Ms Williamson said.

Good progress was being made with the inspections, she said.

Three of the European-built ATR fleet required further inspection, five were well advanced in the inspection process and one was already in the hangar for pre-planned maintenance.

"We expect to introduce more aircraft back into service later on Monday."

The airline was contacting passengers on cancelled flights to make other travel arrangements.

"We sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused by undertaking a full check of our fleet," Ms Williamson said.

"However, the safety of our customers, our staff and our aircraft is paramount and non-negotiable for the airline."

The ATR planes fly to 10 destinations around New Zealand. They have serviced Mount Cook Airlines since 1999 and have an average age of about 11 years.

Source: News.com.au