Qantas grounds 10 planes, cancels flights

Qantas has briefly grounded 10 Bombardier Q400 planes after missing a routine inspection, which led to flight cancellations.

The airline's regional unit, QantasLink, cancelled a number of flights on Tuesday to resolve a "maintenance administration issue" with 10 of its 31 Q400s, a Qantas spokesman said on Wednesday.

"This is an administrative issue that relates to technical compliance and not a safety issue with the aircraft," he said.

QantasLink, which boasts a fleet of 82 aircraft, has rebooked affected customers on alternative flights and apologised for the inconvenience.

"Disuption has been minimal," the spokesman added.

Nine aircraft have so far returned to service following the inspections, with the last plane to follow later this morning, he said.