Carry On: Air NZ unveils Dreamliner cabins

Air New Zealand unveils new Dreamliner cabins
Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will have an 18-seat lie-flat Business Premier zone in a herringbone layout and a separate 21-seat Premium Economy cabin in a 2-3-2 configuration, each with its own dedicated bathroom facilities. Chief executive Christopher Luxon unveiled the cabin layout and configuration details at the opening of a Customer Innovation and Collaboration Centre in Auckland. A feature of the centre is the only Boeing 787-9 full cabin interior outside the factory in Seattle.

Air New Zealand is the launch customer for the stretch version of the Dreamliner and has ordered 10 in all. The first will be delivered in mid-2014. The two Economy cabins will accommodate 263 passengers, including 14 Skycouch rows.

Perth gets first Air NZ Dreamliner flight
Air New Zealand says its inaugural commercial flight of its new Boeing 787-9 will be Auckland-Perth on October 15 next year. “The 787-9 is going to be a game changer for Air New Zealand and is a key element in delivering on our Go Beyond growth plan,” Mr Luxon says. 

Other dedicated 787-9 routes will be Auckland-Tokyo and Auckland-Shanghai. Air New Zealand and codeshare Virgin Australia customers are able to book on the 787-9 service between Auckland and Perth for travel from October 15.

Second Boeing 787-9 takes first test flight
Boeing says its second test version of the stretched Dreamliner has completed a successful four-hour, 18-minute maiden flight today over Seattle. Known as ZB002, it has tested systems such as the environmental control system in addition to avionics and other aspects of aircraft performance.

The first production 787-9 in final assembly and 137 flight-test hours to date, 787-9 development is on track. 787-10 development also is progressing as planned. First delivery of the 787-9 to launch customer Air New Zealand is set for mid-2014. Some 26 airlines have ordered 396 787-9s, accounting for 40% of all 787 orders.

Singapore adds extra Christchurch services
Christchurch Airport and Singapore Airlines have agreed to an additional 18 flights to Christchurch over the December 2014- February 2015 summer season. This follows an extra 10 Singapore Airlines flights having been added to this summer’s schedule, all to cater for the strong demand for travel to the South Island over the busy summer holidays.

Christchurch Airport CEO Jim Boult says the new services will add more than 9760 additional seats in the 2014/15 summer and are timed to bring additional guests here for the Cricket World Cup and Chinese New Year celebrations.

Virgin Australia doubles Indonesian codeshares
Virgin Australia has added a further five destinations to its codeshare network across Indonesia SilkAir, the full-service regional wing of Singapore Airlines. Virgin Australia now has its marketing code on 10 destinations in Indonesia that can be accessed on one ticket from all Virgin Australia serviced airports in Australia and New Zealand.

All of the new destinations are via Singapore and operated by either Airbus A319 or Airbus A320 aircraft offering Business and Economy class. The new destinations are: Bandung (BDO), Balikpapan (BPN), Lombok (LOP), Palembang (PLM) and Solo (SOC).