New lounge for the capital, and a $223m revamp for Emirates
Virgin opens Wgtn lounge
Virgin Australia yesterday opened its first international lounge at Wellington Airport. The new “intimate” lounge is located airside in the international departures area above gate 48 and has views of the tarmac. Food is supplied by the Rydges Wellington Airport Hotel. Virgin developed the lounge after its partnership with Air New Zealand ended last October. In Auckland, eligible passengers use the airport company’s Strata Lounge in the international terminal.
Emirates’ $223m do-up
Emirates has finished reconfiguring its Boeing 777-200LRs from a threeclass cabin to two classes. The airline spent $223 million converting the fleet of 10 aircraft. Each plane took about 35 days to reconfigure at the airline’s engineering base in Dubai.
Qatar’s new VR tool
Qatar Airways is the global launch partner of Rolls-Royce’s new virtual reality training tool for work on engines. The new tool is designed to provide engineers with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB refresher training in a virtual environment without the need for a physical engine to work on. It works in the same way that pilots complete elements of their training in a simulator.
Air NZ sale
Air New Zealand’s chief air operations and people safety officer John Whittaker has sold $236,368 worth of shares in the past week. Whittaker, who joined the airline in 1985, still has 147,812 shares in the company. Air NZ shares rallied from a one-year low of $2.23 on March 21 to between $2.73 on $2.78 on the days of the transaction.
Thrifty goes electric
Thrifty Car Rental is hiring out electric vehicles at its Auckland and Christchurch depots. Five-door Hyundai Ioniqs with a 200km verified range are being offered. They can be charged to 80 per cent capacity in 30 minutes. It typically costs about $10 per 100km to power the vehicle.
Queenstown peak
Queenstown Airport is forecasting a 13 per cent increase in flight capacity through its peak winter period. The airport says additional flights being offered by Qantas and Jetstar will help increase the total number of available seats by 176,234 in the six months through September. The biggest increases are in July, August and September.