Air New Zealand Air Points - Last flight of the 762 - NZ106 6/3/04

As I was walking to work today it occurred to me that, after many reprieves, the final flight of NZ's one remaining 762 must be coming up. After having a look in the Star Alliance timetable and double-checking on NZ's own online schedules, the last 762 flight I can find is this Sunday 6th March, NZ106 SYD-AKL, dep 18.00 arr 23.00. For any FTers wanting to ride on a piece of history, this appears to be your last chance! (Though you might want to check with a more reliable source that this is correct before rushing out and booking.)

This will bring to a close almost 20 years of service by the 767-200 in the AirNZ fleet. I found this extract in the AirNZ company history:
September 10, 1985
The first new Boeing 767-200 ER, ZK-NBA "Aotearoa", arrives in
Wellington via Nadi. The flight between Everett Field in Seattle and Nadi
was the longest flight by a General Electric powered Boeing 767. The
aircraft has 18 Pacific Class and 202 economy class seats.

Interesting to note the more high density config... and was business class formerly known as Pacific Class or is this a typo?

RIP :)

PS I presume its 6/3/5 not 6/3/4!

I have flown on NBA on numerous occasions over the years and the last time was only 10 days ago. She looked in fairly good condition, though the galleys looked very battered i must.

RIP :)

PS I presume its 6/3/5 not 6/3/4!

Good point, Kiwi Flyer! d'oh! :o

I have flown on NBA on numerous occasions over the years and the last time was only 10 days ago. She looked in fairly good condition, though the galleys looked very battered i must.

NBA has an impressive history- having service with Air New Zealand, Ansett, Swiss and TACA Airlines.

Yeah I've been on the 762's to Tonga a number of times and they always seem more comfortable and spacious than the 763's - perhaps a little less like a cattle truck. (Nice in the front section of economy behind business class.)

As I was walking to work today it occurred to me that, after many reprieves, the final flight of NZ's one remaining 762 must be coming up. After having a look in the Star Alliance timetable and double-checking on NZ's own online schedules, the last 762 flight I can find is this Sunday 6th March, NZ106 SYD-AKL, dep 18.00 arr 23.00. For any FTers wanting to ride on a piece of history, this appears to be your last chance! (Though you might want to check with a more reliable source that this is correct before rushing out and booking.)

From the NZ media releases page:

Air New Zealand's last remaining Boeing 767-200 jet takes its final flight for the airline after almost 20 years of service on Sunday, 6 March.

The aircraft (registration number ZK-NBA) was delivered to Air New Zealand from the Boeing manufacturing plant in Seattle in September 1985.

Since then the aircraft has performed almost 24,000 landings and takeoffs, clocked up 74,000 flight hours and flown almost 35 million miles.

The aircraft was the first of its type to be delivered to New Zealand and was greeted on arrival by VIP guests and a Maori welcome party. Its final scheduled service will also be a formal occasion, with a traditional water canon salute from Auckland International Airport's fire appliances.

Air New Zealand's Group General Manager Airlines, Rob Fyfe, says the departure of NBA from the international fleet will be a significant moment for the airline.

"This provides a great sense of history repeating itself, as we prepare for the introduction of the new Boeing 777s from October this year.

"The combination of these new aircraft, our refitted 747s and new in-flight product will firmly cement Air New Zealand among the world's leading long-haul airlines."

The last service operated by NBA will be an Auckland - Sydney return flight on Sunday, departing Auckland at 3.30 pm and back into Auckland at 11.30 pm.

In recent years, the aircraft has been operated mainly from Auckland to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney as well as Apia.

NBA will be replaced by a combination of B767-300 and A320 aircraft on those sectors.

AirNZ Media Release (http://www.airnz.co.nz/aboutus/mediacentre/pressreleases/end_an_era_for_airnz_long_haul_fleet.htm)

To answer your question mad_atta, at that time NZ used the term "Pacific Class" rather than "Business Class" for their 767's. (and the 747's). The 18/202 config is also correct, QF's 762 were the same to start with.

They also used the term Pacific Class in their 732 services when Ansett started domestic operations. I still have the flyer they produced with a picture of the 732 cabin with the table in the B and E seats and the sheepskin covers on the others, they made a big deal of that.

Cheers,
Jetkid

Well no longer need to watch out for 762 in the schedule.

To answer your question mad_atta, at that time NZ used the term "Pacific Class" rather than "Business Class" for their 767's. (and the 747's). The 18/202 config is also correct, QF's 762 were the same to start with.

They also used the term Pacific Class in their 732 services when Ansett started domestic operations. I still have the flyer they produced with a picture of the 732 cabin with the table in the B and E seats and the sheepskin covers on the others, they made a big deal of that.

Cheers,
Jetkid

Thanks for that explanation, Jetkid. Interesting that they then went on to use Pacific Class for economy with the 'Pacific Wave' facelift in '96 or so. I wonder what the seat pitch was on those original configs - 220 pax is fairly high density for a 762.

I also didn't know that the domestic 732s just used 3+3 config for business class seats with the middle seats turned into a table. The only time I ever flew domestic J on NZ was in a 733 with the 2+2 layout and about 38" pitch - I just assumed that they were in place right from the introduction of business class.

I was also surprised to discover this in the NZ history pdf:
July 20, 1987
New look domestic operation launched offering three separate classes:
Seven Boeing 737s are configured in Pacific and Economy classes, and
three Boeing 737s in City Saver class.

Was City Saver class different from economy on the 2 class aircraft? I'm guessing this was used on the more provincial routes that used to have domestic jet services, like PMR and HLZ...

Good question. 'City Saver' was a flat 25% off the standard Economy fare and then later the 'Super City Saver' was 35% off. Air NZ had 7 B732 in a JY config (they called it JS in their paper timetables at the time) and City Saver was 4 all Y config 732's (with the code 'M' in the paper timetable). Super City Saver fares were available on the City Saver flights/aircraft (V in the timetable) after 7.30pm and all weekends.

In some respects it was ahead of its time, on City Saver flights you got a plastic mug for coffee and a water with two biscuts.... Problem was if they had to swap a plane at the last minute and you had paid for a J or Y seat and ended up on a CitySaver aircraft you were entitled to a refund. The issue with that was the amount to refund varied depending on what fare you had paid in the first place, admin nightmare. To compound matters you could get a Super Saver fare (45% or 55% off the standard Y fare), but only on the non-City Saver flights!

It was a very interesting period in Air NZ's domestic history if you were interested in such things!

Cheers,
Jetkid