Air NZ new planes announced
 

8 x 777-200ER with Trent 800
2 x 7E7
Options on 42

What a great choice!
Much better than the QF 330s!

Air New Zealand announces new long haul aircraft choice

Today the company reached agreement on behalf of Air New Zealand, to acquire eight new Boeing 777-200 ER and two Boeing 7E7 aircraft as well as rights to purchase a further 42 long-haul aircraft.

These aircraft will allow us to develop new routes and increase frequency on existing routes as well as provide an overall increase in both passenger and cargo capacity. Another benefit is that the new fleet will provide Air New Zealand with lower operating costs and improved financial performance over and above that which could be achieved by expanding the existing fleet of 10 Boeing 767s.

Four of the new 300-plus seat Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft will be purchased and the other four leased from International Lease Finance Corporation. The cost of the four aircraft and the necessary infrastructure to maintain the fleet of eight is in excess of NZ$1-billion.

The interiors for these new aircraft will mirror the soon-to-be unveiled upgrade for our Boeing 747-400s.

The eight Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft will begin entering service in September 2005, with the first five expected to be delivered by April 2006. The final three aircraft will be introduced in the last half of 2006, and all will be powered by Rolls Royce Trent 800 series engines.

Air New Zealand's existing fleet of Boeing 767s will be reduced from 10 to 5, when aircraft are returned as their leases expire over the next two years.

The decision to purchase the Boeing 777-200 ER and 7E7 represents the next phase in our commitment to transforming Air New Zealand's business. The first phase was the introduction of Domestic Express, Tasman Express and Pacific Express and the corresponding introduction of our new Airbus A320 fleet.

The delivery date for the two 7E7 aircraft, which will be capable of carrying approximately 230 customers, is still to be determined, but it will coincide with the retirement from service of the remaining 767s. The cost of these two aircraft and necessary infrastructure to support them is in excess of NZ$350 million.

Air New Zealand's 7E7s will be powered by the revolutionary new Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engine and we are the first airline in the world to place an order for engines to power the new Boeing 7E7.

Our decision to commit to the 7E7 and the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 is a clear signal of where we at Air New Zealand are positioning ourselves - innovative, efficient and delivering the best products to customers.

The Boeing 7E7 will use 20 percent less fuel than any other aircraft of its size. It will travel at speeds similar to today's fastest wide bodies and feature innovative technology that will give passengers great comfort.

The Boeing 7E7 will also carry up to 50% more cargo than today's similar size aircraft.

Our decision to acquire purchase rights to a further 42 aircraft reflects our belief in the potential to expand our passenger and cargo business into new long haul destinations and increase traffic from existing core routes.

The purchase rights will give us the ability to choose from a range of aircraft types that best suit our long haul business as it develops in the future. The aircraft options will include the Boeing 777-200 ER, 777-200 LR, 7E7 and the 777-300 ER, which could replace our Boeing 747s in about a decade.

To put this into a passenger and cargo context, Air New Zealand's long haul fleet currently consists of 5408 available seats and 268 tonnes available capacity across18 aircraft.

By early 2007, the fleet will consist of 6466 available seats and 291 tonnes available capacity across 20 aircraft. This represents a 20% increase in seats for long haul aircraft.

This growth is consistent with the airline's capacity growth goal of 5 percent, given the network base year of 2003.

I would like today to pay tribute to the fine team lead by Rob Fyfe, Mike Flanagan and Mike Hawkins who have spent the past 18 months conducting an exhaustive evaluation of the aircraft options available from both Boeing and Airbus.

The intensive and robust evaluation process highlighted that both the manufacturers' products were capable of meeting Air New Zealand's requirements. But on balance, the Boeing aircraft best fits our long haul and business needs.

This same exhaustive process two years ago found that the Airbus A320 was the best fit for our short haul needs and as expected the aircraft is performing to expectations and has proven to be the right choice for the airline.

I looovvve 777's

Gimme Gimme Gimme! :E

300 series on the 777 might have been nicer!!

Maybe, the options on another 42 long range aircraft might include the 777-300.....;)

You will probably find that when the -400's start going in 2008 they will be replaced by 300ER's. Just can't wait until they arrive.

Good on Air NZ for some great choices.

Airlines like QF should take note.
7E7 and B777 sound a ****e load better than A330, (A340?) and A380's.

Hopefully Boeing may be in some sort of mood in the future to do a deal by undercutting the opposition, such as Airbus.

At last count the figure quoted by a mate in HK was 1x B777 = 1.75 A330's in terms of cost.

Sad that the bean counters dont look at the long term picture.

yep...................... plastic's cheap.

I think you will find that the decision to go with the -200 is based on a required daily frequency to the destinations that it will service. The markets/destinations then determine the size of a/c required. The 7E7 might be used to explore new routes out beyond the range of the 777. Its extra range being useful because of NZ's isolated position in the world and will thus provide a single sector journey.

I suspect that the -300ER will come onto the scene when the 74 has seen its time out. A little time off yet.

Great to see a management with a long term strategic view on the business at last, and some growth.


:ok: :ok: :ok:

Go Boeing

Gives me hope for Air NZ now. Now they should start gearing up for more interviews.

Excellent

Just heard they intend to "place" the 7e7s and some 777s in Australia...........lovely. :cool:

Just remember, I brought you the PORNSTAR news some 6 months early. The usual suspects dissed me then.....sooooo shoot again. :suspect:

Just amazing how "she-man Helen" can find the money for all this after sucking AN dry when promised a QF tie up by Howard and Anderson. Just beautiful. :yuk:

Balding Eagle,

Long term strategic view; Air New Zealand ?

You have got to be kidding !!!

Hey ignoramus, the 7E7 is going to have a lot more plastic and composites in it's structure than anything Airbus make.

Sad long term in the case of the 747 that the aircraft break up inflight on climb out of Taipei or the centre tank blows up on climb out of JFK on the older Boeings. Maybe the bean counters do look long term and decide paying a sh*tload more for an aircraft that the public doesn't want to fly on when it gets old isn't such a good idea.

Australia2

This is a totally different attitude from the previous share holders who treated the airline as a cash cow and had no long term strategy in place. They were the same ones who made the decision to buy AN. The present management are quite different. Long term strategy ..... YES.

Stillalbatross.

I suppose you refuse to fly on B747's do we???????
Come on pal, tell the truth here!!

You fail to mention the problems inherent on Airbuses, such as A340's under tow melting in half after a wheel well fire broke out in one of the dodgy hydraulic pumps or a littany of other hassles that any Airbus rated LAME will spill out.

Indeed Timmee but I am yet to see an airline advertise as "Our Boeings are amongst the oldest in the world but we look after them with competent engineering so come fly with us"

My point is, as the management of Boeing Commercial slowly take the company down the toilet, there is no point in charging a premium for an aircraft that lasts longer when no-one wants to fly on it.

"hey ignoranus"... looks like some limp-wrist joystick-lover :yuk: can't take a joke.
What a sissy.. are you French? :{ :{

You'd break a nail flying a Boeing..... :eek:

Premium.... No one's charging a premium, the pansies in the 'consortium' :hmm: charge from behind a subsidy. And so they get orders. :mad:

The only thing I'd be breaking is into a cold sweat in a 737. Waiting foir the uncommanded rudder input to roll the fvcker onto its back.

As for subsidies, it's taken Boeing over twenty years to wake up to the threat of Airbus. Even when USAir was plying American skies in A330s. If it's that stupid and arrogant to it's competition it doesn't deserve to be around any more. Ask any analyst on Wall Street.

Boeing have been building the same stuff for 30 years and charging handsomely for it. I'm not an Airbus fan per se, I'd rather it was Lockheed Martin building airliners and screwing Boeing over instead. TriStar VS antiquated 747 30-odd years ago, don't make me laugh. The Lockheed product was light years ahead back then and would wipe the floor with them now.

Come on!
What's the incidence per 10x99 737 hours of uncommanded rudder deflection in 737?
Infinitisimal.
(ie: next to nothing)
You are more likely to crash in a 737 due: other.
The 'rudder makes the 737 less safe than the airbus' argument is :yuk: