According to Reuters, Air Transat's routings must now be within one hour's flying time of an airport.
"Worried officials with Canada's Transport Ministry in Ottawa did not ground Air Transat, but limited the airline's operating authority on its three Airbus 330s, requiring the company to fly the jets closer to airports on long-haul routes.
Instead of flying in a more direct line to Europe, which meant Air Transat's Airbus 330s
could be up to two hours away from the nearest airport, the jets must now follow a more northerly route near Greenland or Iceland to ensure they are no more than one hour from an airport, Canadian officials said.
"We're very, very concerned about this,'' Art LaFlamme, director general of civil aviation at Transport Canada, told Reuters.
"To my knowledge this is the first instance of this occurring in Canada or even worldwide,'' he added.
LaFlamme was referring to indications that the airliner continued to lose fuel during the flight despite design specifications for the Airbus which allow the flight crew to shut down a troubled engine and reroute or conserve fuel while using the remaining functional engine.
"The system is designed so that they can fly on one engine...so the continued loss of fuel
is probably the most perplexing situation here that has to be explained,'' he said.
Transport Canada also plans to audit Air Transat's flight and maintenance operations to ensure they meet regulatory requirements.
Air Transat's Lemay said the airliner had been in service since 1999."