Tag Archives: ZK-NZE

Air New Zealand celebrates the year in the air

Air New Zealand has looked back at its operation in 2018:

Air New Zealand operated around 188,000 flights this year, with its customers collectively flying 29.85 billion kilometers since January 1, 2018.

Of its most frequent flyers, an Auckland based customer flew a whopping 639,000 kilometers in 2018 – the equivalent to 15 circuits of the earth – making them Air New Zealand’s farthest flyer for the year.

The airline’s most frequent flyer took 371 flights in 2018, and the top three travellers together clocked up 1.25 million kilometers in the air– earning more than 31,000 Airpoints Dollars between them.

Keeping customers fed, watered and caffeinated on the 17 million journeys the airline enables annually is an around-the-clock operation, and since 1 January 2018 –

More than 6.3 million meals were served across the airline’s global network. Malay chicken with steamed rice was the most popular main dish in Economy class with 294,000 portions served.
Beef osso bucco with caramelised onions was the most popular of the 1.3 million New Zealand beef and lamb meals served in the air.
The most popular dish in the airline’s premium cabins was Peter Gordon’s blackened King salmon with saffron potato mash and edamame.
The airline poured more than seven million glasses of exclusively New Zealand wines onboard and in its lounges, with sauvignon blanc the preferred tipple.
Air New Zealand’s expanded Kiwi beer selection proved popular, with 512,000 cans of beer served inflight – up 7.5 percent on the year prior.
Customers also munched their way through 15.3 million of Air New Zealand’s iconic lollies.

Travellers enjoyed thousands of hours of inflight entertainment, with The Greatest Showman the most viewed film on Air New Zealand flights – seen 168,500 times in the past year. Kiwi band Six60’s track Closer was the most listened to, with around 6,500 hits each month.

More customers also chose to minimise the footprint of their flights in 2018, with close to 27,000 tons of carbon offset this calendar year.

Air New Zealand Chief Marketing and Customer Officer Mike Tod says the airline keeps close eye daily on traveller preferences so that it can deliver what matters most to them.

“Air New Zealand prides itself on our warm Kiwi service on the ground and in the air. And customers continue to appreciate the taste of the nation when they are with us, whether it be the selection of our outstanding New Zealand wines or menus created by our award-winning chefs Peter Gordon and Michael Meredith,” Mr Tod says.

“We’d like to thank those who have travelled with us in 2018, which has had its fair share of challenges, as schedules have been disrupted by the impact of issues with the Rolls Royce engines that power some of our 787s and significant weather events around the country.”

Following the launch of direct flights to Chicago and Taipei, 2019 is shaping up to be the airline’s biggest year yet, with Air New Zealand expecting to fly 18 million customers in the coming 12 months.

Air New Zealand aircraft slide show:

Air New Zealand to operate its first Boeing 787 revenue flight on August 9

Air New Zealand (Auckland) will launch its first Boeing 787-9 revenue flight on August 9 between Auckland and Sydney operating as flights NZ 103 and NZ 104. ANZ plans to begin long-haul Boeing 787-9 service on the Auckland-Perth route on October 15.

Top Copyright Photo: Daniel Gorun/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-9 ZK-NZE (msn 34334) departs from Paine Field near Everett.

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Air New Zealand:

Air New Zealand takes delivery of the first Boeing 787-9

Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) celebrated the first 787-9 Dreamliner delivery yesterday (July 8) with launch customer Air New Zealand (Auckland). About 1,000 Boeing employees representing the 787 program joined Air New Zealand executives and guests at a unique celebration of this milestone event (below, Boeing).

“We are proud to be the launch customer for the 787-9,” said Air New Zealand Chief Financial Officer Rob McDonald. “We believe it will be a game-changer for Air New Zealand, with increased levels of fuel efficiency and passenger comfort. We look forward to inviting our customers on board to experience the aircraft and all of its benefits for themselves.”

Air New Zealand’s Rolls-Royce powered 787-9 is part of the airline’s fleet modernization effort. This 787-9, painted in a unique black livery, is the first of 10 Dreamliners to join Air New Zealand’s fleet. The airline said the airplane will operate the Auckland–Perth route in October 2014 and to both Tokyo and Shanghai in November 2014.

The 787-9 complements and extends the 787 family. With the fuselage stretched by 20 feet (6 meters) over the 787-8, the 787-9 will fly up to 40 more passengers an additional 450 nautical miles (830 km) with the same exceptional environmental performance — 20 percent less fuel use and 20 percent fewer emissions than similarly sized airplanes.

The 787-9 leverages the visionary design of the 787-8, offering passengers features such as large windows, large stow bins, modern LED lighting, higher humidity, a lower cabin altitude, cleaner air and a smoother ride.

Twenty-six customers from around the world have ordered 409 787-9s, accounting for 40 percent of all 787 orders.

Top Copyright Photo: Bernie Leighton/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Boeing). Boeing 787-9 N1012N landing at Paine Field near Everett became ZK-NZE (msn 34334) when it was handed over on July 8.

Air New Zealand:

Videos: The building and delivery of the first ANZ 787-9:

Video: The Seattle event:

And the now famous “Swimsuit Safety Video”:

Air New Zealand orders 14 new Airbus aircraft, the first Boeing 787-9 completes its first flight

Air New Zealand (Auckland) has announced it has placed an order for 10 Airbus A320neo aircraft (above), one A320ceo and three A321neo aircraft (above, image via Airbus). The signing ceremony took place at the IATA annual meeting today in Doha, Qatar.

In other news, on May 29 Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 787-9 (ZK-NZE) (above) took to the air for the first time, successfully completing its first production test flight in the skies above Seattle, Washington.

Copyright Photo: Daniel Gorun/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-9 ZK-NZE (msn 34334) taxies at Paine Field near Everett, WA.

The aircraft, which is in Air New Zealand’s signature black livery, is currently in the final phases of the delivery process before being formally handed over to the airline as the new owner.

Air New Zealand is the launch customer for the Boeing 787-9 and has 10 of these stretch versions of the 787 on order.

This first test flight is known as a B1 flight where the two pilots put the aircraft through its paces thoroughly exercising its systems to verify performance while at the same time the functionality of every aspect of the cabin is tested in-flight.

The distinctive black aircraft departed from Paine Field airport north of Seattle at 1:45 pm (1345) local time. It reached an altitude of 11,800 meters (39,000 feet) and an airspeed of 360 knots which is standard for a B1 flight and returned to Paine Field three hours and ten minutes later.

Air New Zealand:

Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 787-9 is rolled out of the paint shop at Everett

Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) yesterday (April 5) rolled out of the paint hangar the first 787-9 Dreamliner (ZK-NZE, msn 34334) to be delivered to launch customer Air New Zealand (Auckland), revealing the carrier’s new-look livery. The airplane, painted in a distinctive black color scheme, features the iconic official New Zealand Fern Mark.

This 787-9 is the first airplane to feature the distinctive black version of Air New Zealand’s new-look livery design, with the white version having been gradually rolled out across the airline’s domestic fleet in recent months. While the majority of Air New Zealand’s fleet will eventually feature the white version, a limited number will feature the signature black version.

Air New Zealand plans to have the airplane begin service on its Auckland-Perth route later this year. Air New Zealand has 10 787-9s on order.

The 787-9 will complement and extend the 787 family. With the fuselage stretched by 20 feet (6 m) over the 787-8, the 787-9 will fly up to 40 more passengers an additional 300 nautical miles (555 km) with the same exceptional environmental performance — 20 percent less fuel use and 20 percent fewer emissions than similarly sized airplanes.

Twenty-six customers from around the world have ordered 405 787-9s, accounting for approximately 39 percent of all 787 orders.

Air New Zealand issued this statement:

The aircraft, which will soon become the first 787-9 in commercial operation, rolled out of Boeing’s paint hangar on Saturday evening April 5 and will join the Air New Zealand fleet mid year.

The 787-9 is the first Air New Zealand aircraft to feature the distinctive black version of the airline’s new-look livery. The white version of the livery has been gradually rolled out across the airline’s A320 domestic fleet in recent months.

The paint job took five days to complete and was done by 12 painters using around 350 liters of paint.

Air New Zealand’s new livery features the New Zealand Fern Mark, the use of which is authorised by Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. While the majority of the airline’s fleet will eventually feature the white version of the design a limited number will feature this signature black version.

This aircraft is the first of ten 787-9 Dreamliners to join Air New Zealand’s fleet. Air New Zealand is the global launch customer for the 787-9 which is 20 percent more fuel efficient than the aircraft it’s replacing. The 787-9 will operate the Auckland – Perth route from October 15, 2014 and to both Tokyo and Shanghai from November.

Video: Air New Zealand. The building of the first ANZ 787-9:

Images below: Air New Zealand. The 2013 livery has two versions: