Air New Zealand To Upgrade Boeing 787s

Air New Zealand has announced plans to upgrade its fleet of Boeing 787s as part of a significant refresh to the popular widebody aircraft type.

The flag carrier says that its first of 14 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners arrived in Singapore last weekend to be fitted with a new cabin interior to elevate customer experience levels.

Registered as ZK-NZH, this is the first unit to head to Singapore, where it’ll be based at ST Engineering. This maintenance partner will strip the existing interior.

What Air New Zealand Is Changing

One of the more notable changes from this retrofit programme is the addition of an all-new Business Premier Luxe, known to increase the premium experience.

The carrier will also install new carpet throughout the aircraft and new curtains between the cabin and galleys.

Wallpaper is also getting a change with hands-free waste disposal and amenity holders to be installed in the lavatories.

New inflight entertainment screens and systems will also be installed, which will benefit the Economy cabin, which is set to welcome the Sky Pantry installation.

Furthermore, Air New Zealand states that revamped Economy and Premium Economy seats will also be installed on the aircraft as part of a key milestone for a new project.

A Long History With The 787

While it feels like just yesterday that the Boeing 787 was delivered to some companies, it has now been ten years. Air New Zealand notes it was the launch customer for the 787-9 back in 2014, and now it’s been a decade operating with the aircraft.

As a result, given the aircraft has been present for a decade, the airline feels now is the time for the retrofit programme to begin to give the jet a fresh feel moving into the future.

Of course, long ago, the airline confirmed that it would retire the Boeing 777 fleet, but only recently was this eventual retirement pushed back due to delivery delays and other capacity complications.

This announcement was a landmark one as it means that Air New Zealand, permitting no further order to come for another jet, will strictly rely on the Boeing 787 fleet for its long-haul flying.

Air New Zealand says all 14 Dreamliners will be retrofitted over the following two years, with the transformation occurring one at a time on a rolling schedule. This schedule has been optimised to focus on limiting the overall operational impact on customers.

Once the first unit retrofit is completed, the carrier will see the aircraft return to New Zealand. The airline’s employees will spend multiple weeks reviewing the aircraft and performing checks before the type re-enters the flying schedule in the next year.

What Is A Retrofit?

Air New Zealand, however, did provide further clarity for those who may not be aware of a retrofit by providing a detailed explanation.

Retrofitting an aircraft is essentially replacing the product on an existing aircraft. It is like renovating a house, but for an aircraft that also needs an upgrade.

Retrofits are quite common within the industry and are considered essential to maintaining an aircraft or airline’s high standards. Some of these aircraft can stay within airline fleets for over two decades, and technologies have changed a lot in that time.

Essentially, if an airline didn’t launch retrofit programmes, the cabin product would quickly feel dated and fall behind competitors, leading to bad reviews and a negative impact on the brand’s image.

Retrofits can be done for different purposes, whether to maintain a fleet to the highest standards or, for example, in the case of Emirates, to cope with hefty delays to new aircraft and ensure its current fleet, which will stay on longer, is of a high standard.