Qantas Airways Limited
(ASX:QAN) has confirmed it is closing its heavy maintenance base at Avalon, near Melbourne, at the end of March 2014.
The base employs around 300 people and services the airline's soon-to-be retired Boeing 747s.
Qantas Domestic Chief Executive Officer Lyell Strambi says after a comprehensive review it was clear that despite the best endeavours of the airline, there was no workable solution to continue operating the sub-scale maintenance facility.
Qantas last month flagged a review of its aircraft maintenance work at Avalon.
Mr Strambi says retiring the Boeing 747 aircraft has been reducing the workload at the facility and it would soon replace the planes with next-generation aircraft.
Qantas generated a net profit of $6 million in fiscal 2013.
