I’ve just discovered that the service is now being operated by Air New Zealand using a 789!
What kind of ETOPS rules do they operate under?
Don't worry, we're up to 420 minutes twin-engine ETOPS with certain aircraft (eg A350) under certain conditions, are we not, so pretty much anything is possible if the beancounters and aircraft salesmen want to make it so. Perhaps the B787 series is still "only" 330 minutes; I haven't looked it up recently.
For myself, I think I'll pass on the opportunity to sit listening to one engine labouring away for 5.5 - 7 hours as we trundle along at single-engine speed, looking at a freezing ocean below and hoping like hell that the problem that stopped the other one isn't going to repeat itself, and that the diversion doesn't close unexpectedly while we're doing that. My faith in the power of statistics to overcome Gremlins just isn't strong enough.
I know, I know, stand by for incoming, silly old fool just doesn't understand the brave new world, if you're worried about related failures you're no better off in a quad. But I just don't like the idea of depending on one engine's health for that long.
And I'm also uncomfortable with the approach that says "we need this aircraft to be just a bit more reliable, so let's maintain it just a bit more carefully, and remove components before they fail" which is the essence of the airworthiness element of ETOPS. For me, I would prefer that slightly more careful maintenance to be the norm.