No PE, including Air NZ Spaceseats matches business class on any major reputable airline for long haul. Although the NZ Spaceseats are very good PE products, the main complaint I have about them is the fidgety recline mechanism and the lack of a legrest/footrest (which puts the QF PE product as the nearest rival). I have flown long haul business several times a year most years for the last 15 years, and the recliner products of various carriers in the 90s still beat the Spaceseat.

I don't even think the Spaceseats match the 767 Business Class product, except for seat width, as the recline is significantly less and there is no legrest, bearing in mind that I used to fly on that seat between NZ and Singapore in the 90s.

Having said that, Business Premier today is superior to the First Class of the past in terms of sleep comfort, but is a shadow of the soft product service that was once available in catering on board (and indeed is a step down from the soft product that was business class, which once had trollies of desserts, fruit, cheese platters to choose from and be served from).

However, I understand anyone who has had the laughable "1st class" product on US domestic carriers as a comparator would think it is wonderful, even though I'd compare US domestic 1st class catering to second rate international economy class catering, and the seating to that which used to be business class on domestic flights in NZ (until it was scrapped).