Spotters, take note

[Vmo248]

An Air New Zealand crew is in France preparing to bring home first of the airline's new Airbus fleet.

The A320 Airbus, the first of 15 purchased by the airline, will be
handed over at a special ceremony in Toulouse next Monday.

The aircraft has been painted with Air NZ livery and final ground and engine checks would be done this week, Air NZ senior vice-president operations and technical Craig Sinclair said in a statement.

The delivery flight from Toulouse to Auckland will take several days and be headed by two senior pilots Captain Gerry Dunn and Captain Mike Henderson, who are respectively the airline's A320 fleet and training managers.

The plane is due in Auckland at midday on September 21. Its first commercial flight from Auckland to Sydney is planned for September 30.



:ok:

[permFO]

I remember flying with Mike Henderson when he flew with Ansett on an exchange program with AirNZ. He was a good bloke and I remember him saying that the part about Ansett that he really liked was the way they treated their staff! It should have been a sign.