Air New Zealand has just completed a business review, and has announced a series of initiatives as a result. While these cover both customer experience and financial performance, I will focus on the customer experience side of their announcements.
Free Wi-Fi on board
Air New Zealand has announced that free Wi-Fi will be offered on enabled international aircraft from today. This is a change in tack from the situation where it could cost up to $40 to stay connected for the duration of flight.
At present, Wi-Fi is fitted on most of its Boeing 777 jets, as well as its newer Airbus A321 neo jets. Unfortunately, the airline’s Boeing 787s don’t have Wi-Fi enabled at this point.
The 777 can be seen plying the skies between New Zealand and London, the U.S. and across to Australia. We also see the A321 neo aircraft operating Trans Tasman sectors between New Zealand and Australia.
Upgraded Seats
Air New Zealand are promising upgraded seats in the Business and Economy cabins. We can look forward to
- The progressive introduction of an enhanced Business Premier experience on the long haul fleet from the end of calendar 2019
- A new, more spacious, Economy product offering on the long haul fleet from mid-calendar 2020
The announcement was a bit light on the exact details of the enhanced offerings, so I guess it is a bit of a wait and see time for now.
Route Changes
Air New Zealand have announced some new routes, and adjustments to existing services. Specifically, we can look forward to:
- The launch of new direct services between Auckland and Seoul from late November 2019
- Increased frequency on Auckland-Taipei services from November 2019 and Auckland-Chicago services from December 2019
- Amending the timing of the Auckland-Hong Kong service to free up one aircraft from late October 2019
Lounge Upgrade
Air New Zealand will upgrade 9 lounges across the network over the next two years. This will cost approximately $50 million across the 9 lounges.