Qantas to keep maintenance in Australia
From: AAP
March 22, 2006
Qantas is committed to keeping its heavy aircraft maintenance in Australia, despite arranging to send a Boeing 747-400 to Singapore for work next month, the airline said today.
Chief executive Geoff Dixon announced on March 10 that Qantas would not send engineering work to Asia for at least two years.
But he also said Qantas would move its Sydney operation to Melbourne.
The airline today confirmed it had booked a Boeing 747-400 aircraft in for work in Singapore next month, as part of the transition.
However, executive general manager of Qantas Engineering David Cox said this was not unusual.
He said Qantas had made no secret about sending the jet to Singapore and would continue to send work offshore if necessary.
"On occasion we carry out maintenance work offshore, work that is done by qualified, reputable and fully certified service providers," Mr Cox said in a statement.
"To be clear, right now we have plans for one aircraft to undergo a maintenance check overseas.
"However, we will always reserve the right to send some work offshore to meet operational requirements where necessary."