Air New Zealand is preparing for the arrival of two new Airbus A321neo aircraft, with the first of the two jets expected to arrive in Auckland on June 4, 2025.
Each aircraft will complete a 19,342-kilometre journey to New Zealand from Airbus’ facility in Hamburg, with stopovers in Muscat, Kuala Lumpur, and Cairns. The second aircraft is expected arrive in late June.
These new A321neo jets will operate services to Australia and islands in the Pacific region, with the first aircraft due to enter service in the coming weeks, with the second aircraft expected to be operational in a couple of months.
Air New Zealand chief commercial officer, Jeremy O'Brien, commented: “These new A321neo are a clear sign we're investing for the future – boosting our international network and delivering more choice for customers.”
New aircraft come at a good time for Air New Zealand, which has been widely impacted by aircraft groundings, stemming from global maintenance requirements on the Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce engines that power its Airbus and 787 fleets.
The airline said that these two new additions have the ability to add up to 625,000 seats to its network each year.