The food is pretty good - an appetiser, choice of 3 main courses, then dessert and cheeses. There's a surprisingly generous range of wines on offer too, given the cabin only has 8 seats - there will be champagne plus at least 2 reds and 2 whites plus a dessert wine.

Seats are very comfortable and wide in nice soft leather, but due to 42" pitch there is not much recline and footroom in row 1 isn't the best (go for row 2). They have a rudimentary legrest, too.

There's a movie on the main screen plus the handheld DVD players. While these are welcomed, it can get a little cluttered trying to juggle your meal service and the DVD player. Also beware that on the eastbound flights (ie SYD-AKL) it can be a struggle to finish a movie due to the fairly short flying time, so choose appropriately!

All in all, I think it's an excellent service for shorthaul business class, and the NZ lounges at each end are excellent, especially the one in SYD. Certainly, compared to a similar flight on UA I took recently (YVR-ORD in First), NZ's trans-Tasman service is noticeably better on every point (except for Channel 9, which I love on UA), and there's a certain style, enthusiasm and professionalism on NZ that I have found entirely lacking on UA, though of course YMMV.

Let us know how you find your flights!