Air New Zealand returns to service with its seventh Boeing 777-300ER – Aviation News Transponder 1200

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Oceania Airlines hard, with both Australia and New Zealand completely closing their borders to contain the pandemic, even to their compatriots living abroad, forcing their airlines to ground their entire fleets for more than 1 year. But the reopening after the storm and traffic recovery has been much quicker than expected, so now airlines are reviving long-haul flights much faster than expected, even flights that were initially thought not to return. Function, like Airbus A380 of Qantas And this Boeing 777-300ER of Air New Zealand.

New Zealand Airlines has grounded its entire fleet of Boeing 777s, leaving its newer and more efficient Boeing 787s for long-haul routes. Three of the -300ER aircraft are stored at Auckland Airport, and 4 have been taken to the California desert since 2020. One of them is returned to the lessee as they will not be used again. The US made them reconsider, and now 7 aircraft in the fleet are back. However, the eight aircraft in the -200ER series did not meet the same fate and will be permanently withdrawn from the airline as they are replaced by the Boeing 787-9 and -10.

Of the aircraft at Victorville Airport, Air New Zealand began operating them in August last year and ZK-OKM was the last to return home after 18 months in storage; It has MSN 38405 and serial number 902, the first of the -300ER series delivered to Air New Zealand in December 2010.

But getting them up and running again after months in the desert is no easy task, with Air New Zealand calling it “airplane regeneration”, a long process that takes hours and the airline has sent 100 technicians to speed it up. Checks and maintenance. , as well as employees of the local company providing maintenance to the stored aircraft. The company’s COO, Alex Marron commented:

An incredible amount of work is required to get these planes operational again. The ‘rebuild’ process required over 7 weeks involving over 15,000 man-hours. But having all of our 777-300ERs back will help our international operation become more resilient, have more seats, and allow customers to get to where they want to go, whether it’s San Francisco, Houston, Honolulu or Tahiti. It can now operate 24 weekly flights with 3,216 additional seats to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.

Retrieving an aircraft from the desert involves several stages, including periodically turning on systems and engines during storage; All protective covers and seals attached to the sand must be removed to prevent build-up, and must be fumigated before giving it a full pressure bath to remove accumulated dirt and dust, as well as to drive out the insects that inhabit it. A new home including snakes.

They then have to carry out various service and maintenance programs, as well as reviews and tests of various systems. After that the crew comes in to do their tests and fixes as if the new aircraft was received from the manufacturer and test flights are carried out to ensure proper operation. Until then, when you return home, you can finish cleaning and prepare to return to your activities.

The aircraft is scheduled to fly from Victorville to Auckland at 20:00 LT on Wednesday 10 May, where Air New Zealand maintenance will perform some additional checks and cleaning, and is scheduled to return to ZK-OKM commercial operations on Saturday night. A flight to San Francisco.

Photo: Anna Zvereva