Air New Zealand farewells Boeing 767

Media release

31 March 2017

Air New Zealand farewells Boeing 767

Air New Zealand will today operate its final scheduled service using its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with flight NZ108 departing Sydney at 6:55pm local time, arriving at Auckland International Airport just before midnight New Zealand time.

The airline has flown the Boeing 767 for more than three decades having first introduced the aircraft in 1985, with both the airline’s remaining two 767-300 aircraft being retired this week. During its time in service the 767 aircraft has flown the majority of the airline’s long-haul routes.

The aircraft has been progressively replaced by the more fuel efficient Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner since July 2014 with a further two Dreamliners to be delivered in late 2017. The airline has a total of 13 Dreamliners on order, with deliveries running until late 2018.

Air New Zealand Chief Operations Integrity & Standards Officer Captain David Morgan says the retirement of the 767 aircraft completes the airline’s long term plan to move to a simplified fleet structure with the airline to operate a narrow-body fleet of Airbus A320s and a wide-body fleet of Boeing 777 and 787-9s.

“The Boeing 767 aircraft has been a stalwart at Air New Zealand for more than 30 years now but moving to operate the modern 787-9 Dreamliners on our long-haul routes will allow us to be more efficient and have a consistent wide-body fleet which will deliver benefits to both the business and customers.

“The use of the larger Dreamliners will result in a capacity increase of around three percent on the trans-Tasman and Pacific Island routes. Customers also get to experience our Business Premier and Premium Economy cabins on the 787-9 aircraft.”

The airline’s two remaining Boeing 767s have been sold and will be converted to freighter aircraft.

767 facts:

- The first 767 joined Air New Zealand in September 1985.

- Air New Zealand has flown both types of Boeing 767 – the 200 and 300 variants.

- The victorious Team New Zealand America’s Cup crew flew home on a 767 in 1995.

- A 767 charter flight carried Pope John Paul II between Christchurch and Canberra in November 1986.

Ends

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