Tauranga airline Sunair will be returning to the skies after the Civil Aviation Authority reissued their air operator certificate.

Last Friday SunLive reported the airline had been grounded for 10 days following a complaint.

We can now report the complaint came from CAA itself.

Sunair co-owner Dan Power says during a routine audit, the CAA became concerned the company's senior team was too small for the size of the business.

'They had concerns around our management structure as not being adequate for the size and complexity of the business. I addressed that, and they're accepting of the fix.”

He says it was not difficult to get the certificate reissued, although roughly thirty flights had to be cancelled during the period the airline was grounded.

'Hopefully the week's suspension hasn't affected our customer base to any extent.

'We provide essential services to remote areas, which no one else does. So it has had an effect on the travelling public in those areas.”

Dan emphasises there were no other issues for the CAA regarding Sunair.

'It needs to be made clear there were no concerns from the regulator about the proficiency of our flight crew or the air-worthiness of the aeroplanes. There weren't aeroplanes flying around prior to the shutdown that were not up to standard.”

He says the company is now looking forward to returning to normal service.

'The future is bright; we're busier than ever.”