MrSydney

Tuesday 29th January 2003
Sydney – Auckland
NZ116
Aircraft: 747-400 ZK SBU
Depart 9.35am
Arrive 2.20pm
Gate: 56
Business Class

Well, it’s my yearly trip back to New Zealand, which means time for another Air New Zealand trip report. I had not flown Air New Zealand for an entire year and was suffering major withdrawal symptoms. Mind you, in the space of one year much had changed: Air New Zealand Express was born, business class, meals and booze had disappeared into airline heaven, Air New Zealand and Qantas became engaged after an acrimonious divorce in the early 90s and bits and pieces kept on falling off planes.

Arrived at SYD at 6.20am and had to wait until 6.30am for the flight to be ‘opened’. Was checked in by a pleasant enough QF agent at the Air New Zealand Business Class counter. Handed my departure card and two Boarding passes. Noticed I had 15K to AKL and 20A from Auckland to Wellington. 15K is upstairs in the bubble of the 744. Asked whether I could swap for a window downstairs but was informed there were none left. Still I was happy enough.

Having completed check in I then proceeded through Immigration. Presented my Boarding Pass and Passport but the Immigration officer was unable to find the flight listed. She then scurried off to discuss the problem with a colleague and it appeared to be a minor computer problem. Security followed which was a breeze then onto Duty Free to collect my pre ordered goodies. Picked up the latest edition of Airliner World’ from the newsagent then proceeded to the Air New Zealand lounge which is located on an upper level and reached by an escalator. Two agents were on duty and welcomed me to the lounges and enquired what flight I was on. This is certainly one of the better lounges, not that I have seen that many. It is very bright and airy though my one complaint was that the windows needed a good clean and the reading material was quite poor. It offers excellent views of the runways. The lounge was basically fairly empty at that hour. Found myself a seat overlooking Gate 58 and then helped myself to some toast, jam and coffee. I didn’t want to eat too much as I was determined to enjoy Air New Zealand’s in flight catering. Took some photos with my new camera but the light was poor that morning and the photos were quite disappointing.

At 9.10 they made the Boarding announcement to proceed to the gate. It was a very busy 20 minutes for Air New Zealand that morning. There were 4 flights leaving:

NZ182 to CHC 9.30am (762)
NZ102 to AKL 9.30am (733)
NZ116 to AKL 9.35am (744)
NZ142 to WLG 9.35am (733)

Checking the ANZ website the 9.35am to AKL was operating on Tuesdays for this week only. Obviously a positioning flight to AKL having arrived from LAX that morning as NZ14.

Boarding was simple and not hurried, though the Air New Zealand agent on the aero bridge look decidedly flustered at having to get 4 aircraft out in such a short space of time.

Was greeted by two Flight Attendants at the door and directed upstairs. I must confess, after all my years of flying I have never actually flown in the bubble. Was met by a friendly FA at the top of the stairs and shown to 15K. What a great seat. Got myself comfortable and asked the FA if they had a copy of ‘North & South’ which is a monthly magazine with the byline ‘for thinking New Zealanders’. I used to subscribe to this magazine but let the subscription lapse as I got bored reading articles about NZ sports people – people I don’t want to even think about, let alone read about. Within 5 mins, the FA was back with a tatty copy of North & South, which she had probably found in Economy. I was most appreciative.

A FA then came around with drinks, which were placed, on the armrest and a round of hot towels. Push back commenced dead on time and the crew came around collecting glasses as we began taxiing. Take off was fairly quick to the east over Botany Bay. As it was a decidedly overcast Sydney morning there was not a great deal to see.

Once the seat belt signs had been turned off, the Purser made the usual entertainment blurb. It did not sound that inspiring I must say.

FA’s them came around for take off drinks and I ordered a wine. My seat companion, an elderly woman named Beryl who was off to Tahiti to join a cruise whispered to me “ I don’t usually drink at this hour but I’m going on holiday and besides, you don’t get this type of service at the Oatley RSL’. I had to agree.

Very stylish menu cards were then distributed with “Flavours of New Zealand’ Theme. There was a brief blurb about the catering with a great photo of lemons in green and yellow. Interesting to know whether Qantas hand out menus on this sector.

On this sector the Business Class passengers were served


LUNCH

Appetiser
Marinated King Prawns
with peppers and roasted artichokes. Dill mayonnaise.


Main course
Pan seared chicken thigh
with creamed mushroom sauce, wilted spinach and new parsley potatoes.


Warmed Italian panini bread
filled with smoked roasted pumpkin, basil pesto , feta and capsicum.


Chilled peppered venison
served rare, with sweet potato and pumpkin salad, ad radicchio lettuce and orange salad


Dessert
Gourmet ice cream

Cheese and fruit
Fine regional cheese and preserved fruit

Beverages
Freshly brewed or decaffeinated coffee, tea, herbal tea and hot chocolate
Artificial sweetener is available on request

* Light choice – an easily digestible, lower fat alternative

I must say the presentation of meals at in ANZ is not to be sniffed at. Teal tablecloths were laid out and trays handed out. A side dish with two types of cheeses and dried apricots and another side container with crackers and butter, a nicely wrapped napkin containing the cutlery, glass salt and pepper containers.

The appetizer was presented on a frosted blue plate. Initially I was apprehensive about eating prawns after suffering food poisoning on Christmas Day. However, temptation got the better of me and I am glad I did. They were just sublime. The best prawns I have had in a long time. The appetiser was accompanied by a choice of breads. I chose garlic bread, which was cold! I mentioned this to the FA and she said, “Hold it. I will mention it to the cook’. Moments later 4 piping hot pieces of garlic bread were on my tray though I only ate 2 slices. I did mention to the delightful FA cook the difficulty in heating up garlic bread in a convector oven as opposed to a standard oven. She agreed.

Once the appetisers were over, the Flight Attendant enquired whether you were having a main course. I opted for the chicken, as did my seat companion. I did not particularly enjoy this meal. The chicken was stringy and the sauce overwhelmed the chicken. However the spinach and potatoes were tasty enough.

Once passengers had eaten their mains, the plates were taken away and once all the plates had been cleared the ice cream service began. The ice Cream was delicious but for the life of me I cannot remember the flavours. The crew offered seconds for anyone wanting more. Coffee and tea followed.

I did not bother with the PTV and the particular audio channel I was listening too seemed to be malfunctioning. Given the short duration of the flight I did not bother saying anything.

The crew did not begin clearing tables and napkins until we were about to commence the descent into Auckland.
Descent began into a cloudy Auckland and a smooth landing ensued. Given it was 2.30pm AKL was fairly busy with the usual collection of Asian carriers. Immigration was fast as was baggage collection.

In conclusion, this was another good flight with Air New Zealand though my return was even better. The one issue they need to address is their In Flight Entertainment. It is just not up to scratch.

Tuesday 29th January 2003
Auckland - Wellington
NZ451 733
ZK - NJH
Depart 5pm
Arrive 5.50pm
Gate: 30

After collecting my luggage proceeded to the transfer desk at the International Terminal to check my luggage through to Wellington. The transfer area is not very impressive and it really is in need of a make over…..sooner rather than later. Caught the shuttle bus to the even shabbier ANZ domestic terminal. Hung around reading then once the announcement call was made, proceeded through security and up the elevator to gate 30 and joined a small queue to board. Noticed the dry leased Air Malta 733 taxing to a gate, which had only arrived in New Zealand a few days earlier. Greeted by a smiling FA and walked down the aisle to my seat – 20A. Apart from the removal of the Business Class zone I could hardly discern any difference and the seat pitch – always tight- seemed much the same as before. The aircraft filled up fairly quickly as a very chatty Wellingtonian sat next to me with a young Maori UM with a very serious attitude problem in the aisle seat. We departed the gate 5 mins late and began the long taxi to the end of the runway. We took of to the west and then veered left to Wellington. Once seat the belt signs had been turned off, the Air New Zealand express in flight service commenced. Personally I did not mind the tea and coffee service as I never found the domestic meals that tasty or inspiring. We flew down the west coast of the North Island and began our decent into Wellington from the South. Got a good view of suburbs like Makara, Houghton & Island Bay.

Overall it was a good flight with pleasant FAs. There appears to be not obvious deterioration in service levels which was most pleasing.

Hope you enjoyed this report.

Brent

cedric

Wonder what the differences are between your Tuesday-only flight and the service on NZ102 that had departed 5 minutes earlier. A good bet would be that that flight runs pretty empty that day.

Seat 2A

I did, thanks!