Hobart has been without its only direct international connection across the ditch for over a week now, as Air New Zealand grapples with a ‘shortage of aircraft’ due to engineering problems.
The airline has cancelled every NZ195/NZ198 flight between Auckland and Hobart since the end of last year, with the most recent flight landing as scheduled on Thursday, December 28th.
Passengers onboard the December 28th flight, many of whom were visiting Tasmania to catch the end of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race, tell Pulse the change to their return travel plans has been ‘less than ideal’.
Those who had bookings for flights in both directions on December 31st, January 2nd and January 4th are understood to have instead been rerouted via the mainland during the busy Christmas and New Year period.
Aviation circles in New Zealand report that the aircraft scheduled to operate the route in early January, ZK-NHE, experienced engine issues on December 29th that knocked it out of service for just under a week.
In early November, Pulse revealed that Air New Zealand would be ‘indefinitely suspending’ the route in April due to ‘scheduling issues’ stemming from an ongoing ‘engine maintenance problem’ with some aircraft.
“A rare condition identified by Pratt and Whitney in its 1100 engines, which power the aircraft scheduled to operate our Hobart service, means we are required to ground several aircraft in the short to medium term,” Air New Zealand said at the time.
“There is no safety concern for aircraft and early engine maintenance is being conducted as a precautionary measure.”
The airline has not yet confirmed an exact return date for the service following the April cancellation, however Premier Jeremy Rockliff has indicated that the flights may return in November 2024.
Flight NZ195 is next scheduled to arrive at Hobart Airport on Sunday at 10:50am, utilising aircraft ZK-NND.
