Air NZ nears big call on next long-haul plane model
Grant Bradley
aviation Air New Zealand is getting closer to making the big call on its next longhaul model of plane.
Airbus and Boeing are likely to tender for the deal next year.
Chief executive Christopher Luxon said the airline had already taken the first step towards replacing its 777-200 fleet, requesting information from the planemakers.
“We’re right in the middle of that process right now,” he told the Herald.
“Candidate aircraft [include several] on the Airbus side — the A350 is [ one] of interest — likewise the [Boeing] 787-10s and even the 777Xs.”
The airline’s route planners are still working on where they would like the planes to fly, which will determine the aircraft type and its configuration.
Non-stop flights to cities like New York or Sao Paulo are on the radar.
“A big part of this conversation is working out where do you want to go to over the next 10 to 15 years and to look at it connecting Australians through New Zealand to the East Coast of North and South America.”
Luxon said the airline also was investigating connecting Asia, through Auckland, to South America.
The Boeing 777-200 first joined Air New Zealand in 2005 and its eightstrong fleet of the aircraft has an average age of 11.7 years.
“It’s quite exciting because you don’t get to replace a key part of your widebody fleet all the time,” he said.
“Having said that we’ve got very good at going through this process and one of the real strengths of Air New Zealand is that we have been able to purchase the right aircraft for the right mission.”
The Airbus A350XWB has a longrange variant which is capable of flying between Singapore and New York, a distance of 15,323km.
Boeing’s 777X is still being developed and its 8-series could fly up to 16,000km. The distance from Auckland to New York is 14,185km.
Stretched A350s and Dreamliners can carry more than earlier models but don’t have the same range.
Luxon said the process was a long one but the airline needed to “deeply understand” the pros and cons of each aircraft. The new fleet represents a huge capital investment of well over $1 billion. “It’s an important decision to get right.” Simon Power, Westpac
“This research shows the flow-on effect on retirement savings. Simply put, it appears men have more income available to set aside for retirement and this is impacting KiwiSaver balances.”
“What we’re hearing is that more men have larger amounts of money put aside, and are contributing to KiwiSaver at a higher rate, than women. Furthermore, 52 per cent of men told us they had other investments to help fund their retirement, compared to just 39 per cent of women.
“It’s a worry when you consider a woman born in 2000 has a life expectancy of 92 years, compared with 89.6 years for a male born in the same year. Women need more money in retirement, not less.”
Power also encouraged people who took time out of paid work to have children to try to keep contributing to KiwiSaver.
“Of course, money can be tight after the birth of a baby. But, every dollar contributed will trigger a 50c contribution from the Government (up to a maximum of $521.43) through the Member Tax Credit.”