Jetconnect, owned by Qantas, has been fined $12,000 for breaching a flight landing curfew at Wellington International Airport. The airline pleaded guilty to the breach, which occurred on September 18, at Wellington District Court. The international flight had been delayed in Sydney and the plane eventually landed in Wellington 17 minutes past a 30-minute grace-period for disrupted flights, at 1.47am.
Jetconnect argued the breach was because of adverse weather and turbulence that made the aircraft arrive late in Sydney and required an inspection by engineers before it was eventually replaced. The Wellington-bound aircraft was further delayed on the Sydney runway when another aircraft suffered bird strike.
Although the aircraft could have landed at Christchurch Airport, due to a shortage of Qantas personnel, the pilots chose to land at Wellington, which led the judge to rule that the airline did not "take all necessary steps to avoid a breach".
Judge Kelly convicted Jetconnect and fined the airline $12,000 plus court costs.