Dear folks,
I guess this trip report is perhaps one of the last reports concerning the soon to be gone Air New Zealand’s domestic full services. Soon, the full service Air NZ domestic operation will be taken over by the brand new one class “no frill” Air New Zealand Express service. The Koru club will change its operation a bit to accommodate the Express operation, and I can imagine that those delicious food buffets will become past tense or modified in some ways in the present Koru Club. I issued myself two Air NZ business class tickets AKL-CHC-AKL, & AKL-WLG-CHC-AKL tickets, which costs 22,500miles plus tax per ticket. With the Star Alliance gold card, I was admitted to all Air NZ Koru Club at AKL, CHC, and WLG. I checked in thrice during the whole trip, and all the agents were friendly, and issued me the return boarding passes. They were amused, but had no time to chat due to a busy travel day. The lounge attendants were all friendly as well and you could not say much about the NZ ground agents, except excellence. In terms of flight attendants, they were all efficient, kind, and polite, and a pre-takeoff beverage of orange juice or water in real glassware was offered at each segment. There was no hot towel service, but a basket of hard candies and refresher towels were handed out after seat belt sign was turned on or after the meal service. Of course, all the flights were about an hour, but a meal of some sort was served at each segment, regardless of time. Economy class passengers got a hot breakfast and dinner during those morning and evening hours. At other times, they were offered a tray of snack featuring sandwich, fruits, and sweets.
July 30, 2002
NZ 501 AKL-CHC Lv0650 Arr0810
Boeing 767-200ER ZK-NBA
The boarding process for this flight began at 6:34am, and this flight was pretty full in Y. J was about 60% full, but I got the seat next to me empty – 3K. The boarding was very efficient and our door was closed at 7:03am. It was a bit late due to bag loading and it was not typical to see the Boeing 767-200 to be used on a domestic flight. Anyway, we pushed back at 7:04am, and headed to Runway 23L for takeoff. After an Air NZ’s Boeing 747-400 touched down, we lifted off at 7:14am, and it was a spectacular morning. The routing took us from AKL out towards the Tasman Sea and traveled along the Western coast of the North Island before heading towards Nelson. We climbed all the way to 10,400m. Flying time was an hour and a minute.
A continental breakfast tray featuring fruit (cantaloupes, kiwi, pineapple, melon, and strawberry), Kaiser roll with orange marmalade and butter, and fruit yogurt with muesli, was passed out at 7:27am with a choice of fruit juices, tea, and coffee. And then the F/A collected the fruit plate, and passed out an entrée casserole dish of “scrambled eggs with white sauce, wooden mushrooms, hash brown, and Canadian bacon” at 7:35am, followed by more tea and coffee service. Trays were collected at 7:45am. The breakfast was much better than the JFK-DFW’s AA first class flight a month ago. Descent began at 8:01am and we landed on CHC at 8:15am. We parked at gate 18.
NZ 98 CHC-AKL Lv1005 Arr1125
Boeing 767-300ER ZK-NCH
I decided to fly this International connection flight because first, there was no award J class availability on the domestic 11am flight, and second, I wanted to see if there was any difference between these regular domestic J and international J domestic services. But anyway, you could book this flight but you would require to check in with the international desks and to go through customs. I went to the J class desk, which was pretty empty and got my boarding pass. A special orange sticker was applied to the boarding pass, so the immigration agent would wave you through and no taxes were collected. However, the custom may require you to put your bags through the X-ray machines, which I find a bit annoying and unnecessary. The aircraft arrived early from Osaka, but we did not board till 9:36am. I went to the International Koru club, which was a decent place with a self-serving bar with yogurts, sliced cakes, and other usual snacks, such as pretzels and peanuts. The lounge was pretty quiet with a few pilots hanging out and everyone was watching the Commonwealth games in the TV.
The aircraft was pretty empty both in J and Y, and the F/As offered the usual pre takeoff beverage. Door was closed at 9:56am and we took off at 10:06am. Seat belt sign was switched off two minutes later and the F/As immediately began the refreshment service. The purser announced that there would be no alcohol served on this flight due to its international connection service nature. Hot towel was first served – the possibly only difference between the normal domestic and this particular flight. The refreshment tray contains a bowl of fruits (cantaloupes, pear, 2 slices of kiwi, and peach), a plate of open sandwiches – Smoked salmon & cream cheese on wheat bread, and smoked turkey breast on wheat bread, a pack of Nibbli’s Cassava chips, and a piece of Calbury Mint chocolate. It was quite nice for a short flight. Then tea and coffee were offered, and a tray of Japanese’s Apple and Orange candies was passed out as we began our descent into AKL. Flying time was an hour and eight minutes and we climbed up to 37,000ft. Descent began at 10:46am, and then seat belt sign was turned on at 11:01am, and we touched down at Runway 23R at 11:14am, and parked at Gate 10.
You were required to go through immigration, and you would be waved through once you got to the officer. If you were holding a foreign passport, don’t hesitation to use the Australia/NZ citizen line, as you are only required to show them your boarding pass. However, the officer can request to see your identification document such as an official Aussie or Kiwis ID cards, or a passport. Going through custom will require you to do the same, but your bags may have to go through the X-ray for no apparent reasons. After exiting the international terminal, I waited for the terminal shuttle to get to the domestic pier.
NZ 439 AKL-WLG Lv1300 Arr1400
Boeing 737-300 ZK-NGK
I checked in and got all the boarding passes. The Koru Club was busier than the morning, as there were numbers of flights heading to CHC, and other domestic cities. The food buffet got better with a full deli buffet, a quiche pie, a salad bar, a pastry buffet, and a pot of nice Seafood chowder. I had some soup and waited for my flight. Gate was 33 and the load was only 1 in J, and about 20-30Y passengers. The F/A was the best on this trip, and she even added a piece of lime to my pre-takeoff glass of water, and a pack of rice crackers and cashew mix was offered as well. Boarding began at 12:48am, as the aircraft got in a bit later than expected, but door was closed at 12:58am, and we managed to push back before 1pm. We took off from R/W23L at 1:03pm, after a CX’s A340-300 B-HXM took off for Hong Kong. Flying time was only forty-eight minutes, but a hot lunch was offered to me. The lunch tray featured a fruit salad of cantaloupe, melon, kiwi, orange, and strawberry, a plate of Swiss cheese with prunes and crackers, and a warm sandwich filled with chopped salmon, red and yellow pepper strips and melted cheese. It was quite nice for a short flight and Y class got the sandwich plate, as mentioned in the introduction. Soon we began our descent into Wellington and touched down at R/W34 at 1:51pm, and parked at gate 10.
NZ 447 WLG-CHC Lv1500 Arr1545
Boeing 737-300 ZK-FRE
The Koru Club at WLG was of a more modern and stylish setting than AKL and CHC. The lounge was huge and the buffet area featured a full deli buffet, salad bar, quiche, fruits, scones, bread rolls, and a rich chocolate cake. I did not eat much, as I was still full from the lunch served a while ago. The sofas were much nicer and I saw a couple interesting Pacific airlines landing, which include a Polynesian’s Boeing 737-800 with winglet SW-SAO, and a Air Pacific’s Boeing 737-700. The load on this flight was better than the AKL-WLG flight, as there were two passengers in J and 75% full in Y. The flight was only thirty-eight minutes. Boarding began at 2:43pm, and the F/As offered me newspapers and a choice of pre-takeoff beverage immediately. Door was closed at 3:01pm, and we pushed back in two minutes. We took off from R/W34 at 3:09pm, and seat belt sign was off a minute later. The F/A wasted no time in beginning the snack service. J class got an afternoon tea tray of a warmed ham & sauerkraut sandwich on rye bread, a jelly dessert with strawberry, cantaloupe, and melon, and a piece of Chocolate Macadamia cookie. Descent began at 3:28pm, and we landed at 3:47pm.
NZ 548 CHC-AKL Lv1905 Arr2025
Boeing 767-200ER ZK-NBA
I was originally booked on the 5:30pm flight, but was canceled due to a mechanical problem at ZQN. The staff then sent everyone to the ticket counters, and a group of staffs were assigned to the desks. They first took care of the bags for the passengers connecting to Los Angeles and London. They have decided to transfer every passenger to the Freedom Air flight, which departed at 6pm. Due to the fact that Freedom Air (SB) used the supermarket or Jet Blue style receipts as boarding passes, the staffs had to wait for those receipts to arrive first. I of course declined such “good” offer. I was in a J award ticket and would not want to be in a cheap WN airline. I told the staff once it was my turn. She immediately took me aside and rebooked me on the 7pm flight. During the whole ordeal, everyone was calm and the agents were knowledgeable, organized, and polite. Since I had already hang on at the observation deck for a while, I went down to the Koru Club, which had a more amazing dinner buffet – sushi, vegetable dips, bread rolls, deli and salad buffet, and a pot of “Cream of Mushroom with Pot” soup. I had a couple bowls of soup because it was so good. The Boeing 767-200ER was the same one I took that morning, and the aircraft kept on doing the AKL and CHC rotations. The flight was a bit busy, as expected. Boarding began at 6:44pm and Nibbli Cassava Crunch was offered with our pre-takeoff beverage. Door was closed at 7:08pm, and we took off at 7:24pm.
Flying time was an hour and three minutes with a cruising attitude of 37,000ft. Seat belt sign was turned off at 7:28pm, and the dinner service began immediately. For Y passengers, free wines were offered, as I saw the F/As pushing out a huge cart of red and white wines (small bottles). In J class, the dinner was served in two separate courses. First, I got the appetizer tray of Parma ham with grilled vegetables (eggplant, green and yellow pepper), accompanied by a tomato vinaigrette dressing, a white bread roll, a cheese tray featuring pepper cheese and crackers, and a piece of Orange Praline Chocolate by the “House of Hamilton”. It was pretty nice and I like the Parma ham much. Of course, wines were also offered and we also got the individual bottles. The entrée dish was then passed out, which were two pieces of Grilled chicken breasts with mushroom sauce, potato, sauteed spinach, red pepper strips, and more mushrooms. I really like the chicken breast, which was moist and tender. The meal was more than filling. Basket of candies and refresher towels was passed out after the trays were collected. Descent began at 8:05pm, and we landed on R/W23 at 8:27pm.
What can I say more about Air New Zealand domestic service? It is excellent and I will miss them much. Unfortunately, the Air New Zealand Express will arrive soon, and this full service style will be greatly missed. But hopefully, the new Express operation will bring in cheaper fares. For those who wants to fly J on domestic NZ flights, Qantas New Zealand will still offer them after the Express arrived, but I am not sure if you can these nice meals, especially breakfast and dinner.
I hope you enjoy these reports!
Carfield
