A damaged Air New Zealand plane will fly at a lower altitude while it returns to Auckland this evening after it hit an airbridge at Brisbane Airport.
The Boeing 777 will return without being pressurised and at around 10,000ft after suffering puncture damage while pushing back from its gate on Thursday.
The plane’s service to Auckland had to be cancelled as a result, with a full inspection undertaken by a ground engineering team.
“We sincerely apologise for the disruption and appreciate the patience of our customers as we work to rebook them on the next available flights,” Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marren said on Thursday.
The airline told 1News today there had been puncture damage to a “very small section” of the aircraft’s skin. The puncture was around 7cm wide and below the captain’s window.
There was no further damage to the aircraft. It was expected to fly at around 10,000ft, “although that is subject to change based on flying conditions.”
Air New Zealand chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw said the engineering team consulted with Boeing on the appropriate repair approach.
“The aircraft remains in Brisbane and is planned to return to Auckland today for the repairs to be carried out by our engineering and maintenance team.
“The aircraft will operate unpressurised, with no passengers or cargo onboard, at a lower cruise altitude, which is not unusual in these scenarios.”
McGraw said the aircraft was already scheduled to travel to Singapore as part of routine maintenance.
“Once repairs are completed in Auckland, the aircraft will continue to Singapore next Wednesday as originally planned for scheduled maintenance.
“Because this ground time was planned, the additional repairs will not affect the overall schedule or impact any customer travel plans.”
