Air NZ denies ash damage to aircraft
Airline caught out in anonymous ash-grounded aircraft response.
Air New Zealand has denied a claim two of its aircraft have been damaged by volcanic ash from Chile's Cordon Caulle as the company continued to operate flights today.
Airline spin doctor Tracey Mills called NBR this morning after a comment was posted on NBR.co.nz at 4.58am this morning claiming two aircraft were undergoing repair work for ash damage.
“I know for a fact that Air NZ have two aircraft sitting in a hanger in Auckland undergoing work due to ash,” the anonymous comment posted under the moniker RIP claimed.
Ms Mills said the claim was totally incorrect.
“We don’t have any aircraft with damage from the ash.”
She confirmed that a second anonymous comment posted on NBR this morning was in fact written by Air New Zealand public affairs manager Mark Street.
“There's no fact to that,” Mr Street wrote in response to RIP’s claim.
“This rumour has been doing the rounds through the newsrooms for a few days with the story changing markedly with each day.”
Air New Zealand had not cancelled or delayed any of its flights despite volcanic ash disrupting other airlines' travel plans.
Jetstar and Qantas last week cancelled services in Australia and New Zealand while the ash cloud circled the Southern hemisphere as Air New Zealand continued near normal operations by flying at a lower altitude.
Qantas last night announced all flights in and out of New Zealand from 7am today would be cancelled until further notice, with passengers advised to check the airline's website for further updates.
Jetstar said it had cancelled all flights to and from New Zealand until 12pm today.
NBR staff
Wed, 22 Jun 2011
Wed, 22 Jun 2011
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Air NZ denies ash damage to aircraft
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