Carry on: Air NZ farewells B767, upgrades business cabins and more

Boeing 767s bow out in March 2017
Air New Zealand will say farewell to its last scheduled Boeing 767 service on March 31 next year. The now unloved 767s were introduced initially with the B767-200ER from September 1985, followed by the -300ER variant from April 1991. They were the workhorse of the international fleet on routes in the Pacific but fell out of favour with the arrival of newer B777s and more recently the 787 Dreamliners. The final B767 service will operate on the Auckland-Sydney route, with Flight NZ108 from Sydney being the swansong.

Cabin upgrade costs $100m
Air New Zealand will spend $100 million upgrading its premium seat offering on its B787-9 Dreamliners and its B777-300 fleet. The three Dreamliners scheduled to be delivered from October 2017 will already have the new cabin layout, boosting the number of business premier seats from 18 to 27 and premium economy seats from 21 to 33. From February next year, the B777s will be put through the refurbishment programme, which is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2017.

Tigerair returns to Canberra
Virgin Australia’s Tigerair low-cost subsidiary is returning to Canberra with a daily service to Melbourne from December 9. Previously known as Tiger Airways and owned by Singapore Airlines, Tigerair introduced the Melbourne-Canberra flights in 2008 but these ceased when the airline was grounded for six weeks in 2011.

Scoot flies to Greece
Singapore Airlines low-cost subsidiary Scoot will launch flights to Athens from June 20, 2017. At 4884 nautical miles (nm), this will be one of the longest flights in the world to be operated by a budget airline (see next item for more). The four times weekly service from Singapore will use B787-8 aircraft. Scoot has four destinations in Australia – Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Singapore Airlines previously served Athens but dropped the route in 2012 after 40 years of operations. In 2014, it resumed a seasonal service.

World’s longest budget flights
Lufthansa’s Eurowings’ Cologne Bonn-Phuket service holds the record for the longest flight by a budget airline at 5074nm using an Airbus A330-200
. Close behind are Norwegian’s Paris-Los Angeles (4927nm) service, as well as flights to Bangkok from Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Malaysia-based AirAsia X previously flew the 5723nm route from Kuala Lumpur to London (Gatwick) until 2012 and is planning to resume these.

Delta puts suites in business
US carrier Delta Air Lines says its new Delta One suite will the first business class cabin to feature a sliding door at each suite. It will debut on Delta’s first Airbus A350, due to enter service in late 2017. Each will feature 32 suites in addition to full flat-bed seats with direct aisle access, which the airline introduced eight years ago.

In addition to the full-height door, the suite will feature ambient lighting, dedicated stowage compartments for shoes, headphones and laptops, contemporary design featuring premium trim and finishes, memory foam-enhanced comfort cushion, an 18in, high-resolution screen, and a universal power outlet and high-powered USB port. The Delta One suite will also be available on B777 fleet. The A350s will primarily serve routes between the US and Asia.

Route news of the week
AirAsia X will expand its Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne route from 14 weekly to 17 during the peak summer period from December 1 to January 31, 2017. The airline is also putting an additional flight on its Kuala Lumpur-Tehran Imam Khomeini route, boosting it to four times weekly from February 15. Etihad Airways will take over the Abu Dhabi-Venice route from October 30, replacing its partner airline Alitalia. Etihad will use Airbus A319 aircraft on the daily service, replacing Alitalia's A330-200. 

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