Saturday, July 6, 2024 Two and a half hours into its service from Auckland to Hong Kong, an Air New Zealand flight had to return home due to a required inspection of the anti-ice function in one of its engines. Flight NZ81, operated by a Boeing 787-9, was flying over the Coral Sea, northeast of Brisbane, when the crew made the decision to turn back. Carriers typically prefer returning to their home base rather than a foreign port because they have access to their dedicated maintenance team and necessary spare parts.

On Thursday, July 4, Flight NZ81 was set to leave Auckland International Airport (AKL) at 10:45 for a scheduled ten-and-a-half-hour journey to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). However, the flight departed at 11:51, and the new expected arrival time at HKG was 18:20. Departing over an hour late, the flight ascended quickly to a cruising altitude of 34,000 feet and traveled along the Northland Coast between Norfolk and Lord Howe Island, according to Flightradar24.

Upon passing New Caledonia and over the Coral Sea, the captain observed discrepancies in one of the Trent 1000 engines’ anti-ice functions and opted to return to Auckland. The aircraft landed back in Auckland six hours after takeoff, at approximately 17:50 local time. This incident was the second instance in a week where a flight from the Star Alliance carrier had to return mid-journey.

Earlier that week, an Air New Zealand flight bound for Shanghai had to turn back to Auckland after it was found t.