‘C’ checks help Air Niugini save K2.5mil a pop

AIR Niugini saves K2.5 million each time a ‘C check’ is carried out in-house, says newly-appointed managing-director Alan Milne.
He said this after a Fokker-70 jet aircraft went through a successful completion of the in-house C check, or heavy maintenance check at the airline’s engineering hangar in Port Moresby.
A C check is the most thorough maintenance process that can be carried out on an aircraft.
Basically, engineers take off every part fitted to the aircraft, inspect both the removed parts and the aircraft for damage, wear , corrosion and general condition then either repair them in-house or replace them with new parts.
When the aircraft leaves the hangar at the end of its check, engineers ensure it is as near to ‘as new’ as possible, so that the aircraft can keep flying and passenger safety is assured.
P2 ANR is the first-ever Fokker-70 aircraft to have had a C check done in-house, commencing in July this year.
An assessment flight was successfully carried out on Monday, Nov 5 and the aircraft is now back into service.
Milne acknowledged the engineering team and all staff involved for an excellent job carried out in-house, saving the airline millions of kina.
“ANG saves K2.5million each time a C check is carried out in house,” Milne said.
“That’s a huge saving and a remarkable achievement.
“We acknowledge and appreciate the support from all staff involved in the project and look forward to similar outcomes for other aircraft being worked on at the moment.”
Milne, who worked for Qantas in Australia for many years commencing as an apprentice aircraft maintenance engineer, said such an achievement demonstrated how much aviation has grown in Papua New Guinea.
He said the team delivered a good project just in time for Air Niugini’s 45th anniversary.