An Air New Zealand Dreamliner from Auckland turned back before it could make a fuel stop on Guam Saturday on its way to Tokyo because of a problem with the cabin's air system.
Air New Zealand Flight 99 returned to Auckland about two hours and 17 minutes into what was supposed to be a 10-hour flight, tracker flightaware.com shows.
An unnamed representative for the airline told New Zealand Herald the flight had been scheduled to make a fuel stop on Guam Saturday. The flight had 256 passengers.
Todd Scott, a passenger on board the flight, initially tweeted "AKL-Narita now diverting to Guam! Unconfirmed reports from insider @FlyAirNZ say it's a full-blown emergency! Eng issue means they have to descend. Altitude at 15,000 feet, so likely a pressurization problem.”
However the New Zealand Herald quotes the Air New Zealand spokesperson as saying there was no problem with the engine or pressurization of the aircraft.
Air New Zealand released a travel alert that international flights using its Dreamliner face rescheduling or cancellations because of an earlier-than-expected need to conduct maintenance on some of the Boeing 787-9 engines, which the airline stated is a global issue.
