Although Qantas Airways says it is considering starting a NZ domestic service imminently, from this press release on the AirNZ website it looks like they (ie AirNZ) have bought the leases to the ex Qantas NZ whisper jets - bet they got a knockdown price! Could some of these aircraft be heading Ansett's way, one wonders, as it scrambles for aircraft capacity while its 767's are grounded? All interesting stuff:

The following is the text of an announcement made this morning to the New Zealand and Australian Stock Exchanges on the current situation in both New Zealand, where Qantas New Zealand has been placed into receivership and has ceased flying, and Australia:


Air New Zealand Limited advises that the Air New Zealand-Ansett Australia airline group has adjusted its operations to take account of the grounding of Boeing B767 aircraft in its Ansett fleet, and the withdrawal of the Tasman Pacific - Qantas New Zealand airline from the New Zealand domestic market.


On Friday, 20 April, the Director of the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Mr Mick Toller, announced that CASA would not as previously advised, issue the notice which would have required Ansett Australia, Ansett International, and ANNZES Australia to show cause why their airline operator's certificates and engineering certificates of approval should not be withdrawn in 14 days.


Mr Toller stated that a package of proposals presented by the company to CASA was "a significant step forward in improving safety and the safety culture within your (Ansett) organisation. As they provide the necessary basis for addressing the identified concerns, CASA will not be issuing a show cause notice to Ansett based on those concerns."


The first of the 10 Ansett B767 aircraft grounded on Thursday, 12 April, was cleared by CASA and returned to scheduled service on Friday afternoon, 20 April. The company hopes that checks on the other grounded aircraft will proceed more rapidly now that information needs and both documentary and physical checking processes have been established.


From the time the B767 grounding was initiated, Ansett was able to lease capacity from Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Air Canada and purchase seats on other Australian carriers to sustain services to all its customers.


Approximately 95% of all passengers booked on Ansett Australia flights over the school holiday/Easter period were carried on aircraft provided by the Group's Ansett and Air New Zealand airlines. Additional costs resulting from the grounding are estimated at less than NZ$3 million.


Demand for passenger travel bookings on Ansett Australia's services has been sustained at strong levels since the groundings were announced. Passenger "no show" levels have been at normal levels, and, to date, no major corporate travel accounts have been lost.


In the New Zealand domestic market, Air New Zealand has been coping with a heavy increase in demand for its domestic services since the Tasman Pacific - Qantas New Zealand airline ceased operation early on Saturday morning.


The Group has also obtained, with agreement of the receiver of Tasman Pacific Limited, the fleet of eight BAe146 aircraft (and associated documentation) which had been leased to Tasman Pacific by Ansett Australia. The leases had been negotiated in first half of last year, before News Limited completed the sales of its 50% interest in Ansett Holdings to Air New Zealand and its 100% interest in Ansett New Zealand to Tasman Pacific. A further announcement on the future deployment of these aircraft will be made in the near future.