Interestingly, the
Australian Business Traveller article says that the exact mix of A321s hasn't been agreed, but will be "at least 3", and that it could well allow for a small business class cabin.
Air New Zealand orders up Airbus A320neo, A321neo jets
Air New Zealand says the mix of its new 'neo' fleet has yet to be finalised but will include a minimum of three A321neo aircraft.
The first A321neo is due in late 2017 with the remainder delivered through to 2019.
The jets will replace Air New Zealand’s current fleet of 13 A320s which mainly ply its Australia-New Zealand routes, where Qantas has opted for a fleet of Boeing 737-800s.
According to Airbus the A320neo can typically seat between 164 and 180 passengers in a single economy-class configuration, with around 150 passengers if a premium cabin is added.
The stretched A321neo can pack in 199 to 236 passengers in an all-economy layout.
Air New Zealand currently offers only economy class on its trans-Tasman flights, with 168 economy seats on its A320s, and says its A321neo aircraft will have an additional 38 more seats over its A320s, some of which may be used to add a small business class cabin.
They had a
separate story on the fact that AirNZ was considering reintroducing narrowbody business class on the Tasman. The more things change the more they stay the same!
The article points out that this would be a domestic/recliner style business class rather than full international style flat bed seats. Perhaps my theory of it being used to replace the current 763 trans-Tasman flying makes sense. It would certainly be quite an efficient aircraft, and it would make more sense than deploying your expensive new 787s with their space-hungry flat beds on short-haul routes...
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.