Qantas A330 fleet maintenance returns to Australia

Maintenance of Qantas’ A330 fleet will return to Australian shores, the carrier says.

The Brisbane heavy maintenance facility, which employs more than 500 people, will take over work that was previously done offshore.

Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce said the company had reached agreement with the Brisbane employees about the future of the A330 work.

“The flexible arrangements we have come to, as well as the growing scale of aircraft type in the Qantas fleet, mean that we can now establish A330 heavy maintenance operations in Australia that will be globally competitive and of the highest quality,” Mr Joyce said on Monday.

The outcome would provide steady work for the facility, which currently carries out maintenance of the Boeing 767 fleet, he said.

Qantas Engineering in Brisbane is expected to begin conducting A330 heavy maintenance checks in early 2010.

The Qantas Group has 22 A330 aircraft and it expects to take delivery of another two of the planes in the next 12 months.