Every Air NZ 77W has the economy stretch configuration and Skycouch in the back cabin - these seats were all swapped around as the aircraft underwent maintenance for return to service in 2022 and early 2023.

It's just that (for reasons that remain a mystery to many) Air NZ only sell the economy stretch product on the AKL-LAX route so on most other routes the same seats are just available as a preferred seat for HVCs.

The odds of the middle seat remaining empty are very slim as demand on the route has been crazy up until recently, and depending on your exact travel dates the cancellation of upcoming NZ3/4 services in Oct and Nov will mean there will be incredibly high load factors on NZ6/5