Air NZ aiming for direct New York flights with new Dreamliners
Air New Zealand is eyeing New York nonstop flights from 2022.
That is when it expects to take delivery of Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, making the long haul route feasible.
It has inked a deal for eight Dreamliners worth $US2.7 billion at list prices, which will eventually replace its early Boeing 777 models.
The deal includes an option for a further 20 planes.
The 330-seat Dreamliners are about 25% more fuel efficient, opening up the US East Coast from Auckland, said Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon.
"We’re really, really committed and determined to see if we can get to New York," Luxon said, adding that it would work out a compatible scheduling pattern with partner United Airlines.
Despite Boeing’s ongoing problems over the 737 Max worldwide grounding, Air NZ decided to stick with the US plane maker, and was no doubt able to negotiate a much better deal as a result.
It is Boeing’s first major new plane order since the Max 737 grounding.
Some of Air New Zealand’s long haul fleet was itself grounded for significant repairs due to issues with their Rolls Royce engines.
The airline opted for GE engines this time.
"We’ve got to look at where we’re going to fly the aircraft today, where they’ll be going into the future. The combination of the 787-10 with the GEnx engine was just perfect," Luxon added.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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