Whoops.

Qantas will resume flights with some of its A380s this week, after safety concerns kept them grounded following an engine explosion in one of them as it flew over Indonesia.

Alan Joyce, the airline’s chief executive, said today that flights would begin again on Saturday.

Two of the aircraft will resume flying this week and the airline hopes to have four of its six A380s back in service before Christmas, Mr Joyce said.

However, the planes will only be flying certain routes and will have restrictions on using full thrust.

Qantas and Cathay Pacific have both complained about their government-owned or backed rivals, including 80% government-controlled Air New Zealand.

The airlines are taking two vastly different approaches to dealing with this challenge, and Qantas’ call for government help could have big repercussions for Air New Zealand.

Cathay Pacific, which today announced massive capacity reductions and a scheme asking staff to take some unpaid leave, raised the issue of aviation protectionism at the announcement.

Air New Zealand’s major rival Qantas has taken drastic action to cut costs as it slashed its full year pre-tax outlook from $A500 million to between $A100 million and $A200 million.

To deal with reduced demand and passenger load factor, the airline is cutting flying capacity by 5%, which the airline estimates will affect the equivalent of 1250 jobs.