2 AC 772LR in SYD

[Sarah C]

Due to the cancellation of yesterdays flight to YVR, there are now 2 AC 777-200LR's in SYD. One is resting in the general aviation area and the other has just arrive this morning. One of the aircraft will travel back to YVR as AC7054, I presume it would be empty.

[Krzysztof M]

It departed as AC7054 indeed, at 11.30am. It was towed from the stand and spent a fair amount of time at the gate (right after AC034 had left it). Quite a lot of cargo was loaded in but no idea if there were any passangers though.

[Sarah C]

Someone on airliners.net said it was a "flight control problem". No idea how accurate that source is.

[Tony G]

How do they conduct maintenance on aicraft stuck out in Sydey where no local carriers fly that type (777). Does Air Canada pay aussie engineers to diagnose the fault, or does air crew ring home and give them a system fault and Canadian engineers fly out and fix it.

[Erik H. Bakke]

Maybe they brought the second in for spare parts...

Sorry, couldn't resist :)

[Grahame Hutchison]

From www.16Right.com (http://www.16Right.com) ACARS......

C-FIUF AC0033 17/09/2008 07:09 Air Canada B777-233LR Vancouver-Sydney

C-FNND AC0033 18/09/2008 07:19 Air Canada B777-233(LR) Vancouver-Sydney
C-FNND AC0034 18/09/2008 10:27 Air Canada B777-233(LR) Sydney-Vancouver
C-FIUF AC7054 18/09/2008 11:32 Air Canada B777-233LR Sydney-Vancouver

[Raymond Rowe]

How do they conduct maintenance on aicraft stuck out in Sydey where no local carriers fly that type (777). Does Air Canada pay aussie engineers to diagnose the fault, or does air crew ring home and give them a system fault and Canadian engineers fly out and fix it.

You will find they will hold canadian aprovals to work and sign out the aircraft.

[Krzysztof M]

It could have well departed without pax as AC had used that callsign 7054 for ferry flights before (after engine failures, etc.) Also it doesn't appear on Vancouver Airport's arrival page.

[Sarah C]

An article of note today with some surprising information:

"AIR CANADA has warned it may scale back its Australian operations after the competition regulator rejected its proposal for a "co-operation agreement" with Air New Zealand on the Sydney-Vancouver route.

The airline's outbound load factor - a measure of seats occupied by paying passengers - of 44 per cent in October was the worst for any foreign airline servicing Australia, monthly figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics revealed.

"We are scheduled for seven days a week, but we have had a series of flights cancelled based on demand," Ms Foster said. "It has started to soften - there is no doubt about that. January is historically a very strong month for us due to the school holidays and skiing." Air Canada cancelled a flight from Sydney on Monday."

http://business.smh.com.au/business/air-canada-threatens-cutback-on-pacific-route-20090127-7qz7.html

That cancelled aircraft is still sitting by old control tower. 44% load factor is very surprising I must say, even given the time of year.

[NickN]

Does anybody know what a "co-operation agreement" with Air NZ would actually involve?

[Nigel C]

The cancelled flight appears to be due to a technical issue, and not the load. I understand they were doing some maintenance work on it yesterday.

[Krzysztof M]

The Syd Airport website is showing AC7050 departure as 7am but still not listed as 'completed'. Yeah, it was a surprise to see her by the old tower when I arrived on 34L just before 11 last night. Any idea what the problem was (or rather is)?

[Rhys Xanthis]

Does anybody know what a "co-operation agreement" with Air NZ would actually involve?

Perhaps a codeshare for the sydney to vancouver route, allowing pax from NZ to come through from different cities in nz.

or, if the range is allowable, perhaps even a stopover in auckland.

Personally, I think the first would have been more likely.