Air NZ set to service Tigerair

Tigerair, owned by Virgin Australia, will have the parts from 13 Airbus A320 aircraft flown across the Tasman for work. Photo / Richard Robinson

Air New Zealand and a global aircraft parts supplier AJW Group have done a deal to service components of Tigerair Australia planes.

Engineers in Auckland will do work on parts such as generators, wheels, brakes and auxiliary equipment which it says will help keep jobs at the base for longer.

Tigerair, owned by Virgin Australia, will have the parts from 13 Airbus A320 aircraft flown across the Tasman for work.

Air New Zealand does similar work on its 25-strong A320 fleet.

The airline's chief operations officer Bruce Parton said the announcement was significant for the engineering and maintenance division and built on the airline's existing relationship with AJW Group.

"Air New Zealand and AJW have a strong relationship with AJW leasing components for our own A320 fleet and in turn Air New Zealand carrying out maintenance on these components," he said.

"Together we want to take this relationship further and create a real hub for component maintenance in the Asia Pacific region. It's incredibly exciting to have Tigerair Australia on board and we hope to soon begin dialogue with other carriers in the region," Parton said.

The work would mainly be done at the airline's Auckland component facility which employs 56 employees.

"As we exit legacy fleets and thus legacy component work, all new work contributes to a sustainable future."

The Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union said the extra work was welcome in addition to Boeing 777-200 refurbishment work.

"Every little bit helps but it's not the silver bullet that is going to save 100 jobs that are going to go at the end of the year" said EPMU organiser Strachan Crang.

Air New Zealand is to announce a new mainland United States destination tomorrow morning.