Air New Zealand to make widebody order decision by June
Air New Zealand is reportedly nearing a widebody order decision after talks with Airbus and Boeing about potential aircraft continue.
Initially reported by Flight Global, the decision could be announced as early as June, with both the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X on the table, as well as additional 787 Dreamliners.
Depending on what aircraft is selected, the airline intends to take delivery of them no earlier than 2022 according to people involved in the discussions. With their Boeing 777-200ER fleet at an average age of 12.1 years, there is no rush to replace the aircraft as of now.
Air New Zealand has recently started taking delivery of their brand-new Airbus A320/A321neo narrowbody aircraft and has been leasing aircraft to cover the blanks in their network following ongoing Boeing 787 Dreamliner Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine woes.
The airline aims to have a fully operational fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners by September this year as Rolls-Royce works to dispatch remedies for problematic engines, specifically with a newly tested and certified set of compressor blades.
What’s noteworthy is Airbus sending one of their A350-900 test aircraft down to Wellington last year in order to understand certain takeoff and landing conditions, including distances at various payloads.
It was noted at the time that the tests at Wellington specifically could be related to earlier discussions that Air New Zealand was assessing the aircraft.