This is the final set of photos from my brief visit to Auckland International last Sunday.
First up are two photos of an Air Asia X-operated Airbus A330-300, 9M-XXV.
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| Airbus A330-300, 9M-XXV, operated by Air Asia X |
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| Airbus A330-300, 9M-XXV, operated by Air Asia X |
Next up is a smaller aircraft, an Eastern Australia Airlines-operated Bombardier DHC-8-315, VH-TQK. As can be seen, these aircraft are operating the Jetstar regional flights in New Zealand.
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| Bombardier DHC-8-315, VH-TQK, operated by Eastern Australia Airlines on behalf of Jetstar |
Back to the heavy metal and we have an increasingly rare Boeing 767-319, ZK-NCI. Air NZ is withdrawing these aircraft as additional B787-9's arrive, so it won't be long until the they are all gone. From what I can tell, Air NZ [the only NZ-based operator of the type] only has 4 left on the books.
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| Boeing 767-319, ZK-NCI, operated by Air NZ |
Last up is a
common as mud Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJB, which is [quite obviously] operated by Air NZ. This aircraft is operated on their pacific regional routes [Australia and some pacific islands]. At some stage, these aircraft will be replaced by A320NEOs and also an A321NEO.
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| Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJB, operated by Air NZ. |
Hi Rodney
ReplyDeleteAir NZ has been retiring its 767s as the 787s have come on stream, but it seems not at an equal rate. Rather it's using the 767s to pioneer new routes such as the seasonal service to SGN and the proposed year-round service to MNL (inaugural flight now delayed).
I guess the 767s are good for testing routes, particularly those dominated by leisure travel including VFR as the pointy end of the plane is, I understand, rather tired.
How do you think 'thin' routes like these would be serviced if they become permanent? With some of the additional 787s? What about pioneering new routes where a good business-class product is needed, such as India? 787s again?
Fleet choice is probably an art as well as a science.
Cheers,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteThose are very good comments and questions you pose. I guess to start off, I would say that art or science, I'm glad I don't have to make those calls!
I can't help wonder if part of the reason for using B767's to pioneer routes was that the B787's were so late that it was better to keep them "just in case', and having kept them, along with the upturn in the economy, the opportunity was too good to resist trialling what would have been long- and well- considered expansion plans.
Now I don't imagine that Air NZ is going to use Airbus for long haul anytime soon, so my guess is to use the B787's perhaps with a smattering of B777's where the routes prove particularly popular. That'll deal with the "good business class" issue, and the B787's are of course relatively efficient to run.
Having travelling long haul on both the B777 and B787 recently (China Southern), just the better quality air (pressure and humidity) would have to make additional B787's attractive, but probably relatively expensive to lease...
Anyway, that's my 5 cents of uneducated opinion over :-)
What do you think?