AIRTOURS International is extending the transatlantic flight times of its new Airbus A330s by 20mins to meet Civil Aviation Authority regulations.
According to CAArestrictions, the airline must always be within 3hrs of any airport, but its Airbus maintenance contractor FLSis only allowed to be 1hr away from the nearest airport in case of emergencies.
The two-class jets went into service last month to Orlando, Montego Bay and Cancun, but Airtours is being forced to fly on a longer north Atlantic routing to satisfy CAAsafety requirements.
Airtours aviation division chairman Mike Lee said services were taking around 20mins longer but he added that the aircraft were faster than Boeing 767s previously used for transatlantic flights, so passengers should not notice much difference.
The A330s were originally earmarked to replace DC-10s on services to Barbados but the airline opted to put the new aircraft on the Orlando, Montego and Cancun routes.
Lee said it could be January before FLS has the improved certification. Airtours has bought two of the 360-seat Airbuses. Two more are being delivered in November and December to be used by Scandinavian subsidiary Premiair.