Air New Zealand Boeing 747-200 First Class

 

First Class Rolls-Royce 747B

Cabin Layout and Seating

Meals, special privileges and facilities

In the 1980s it was common for international airlines to promote their premium products through leaflets highlighting why their premium classes were especially desirable. This was produced by Air New Zealand to highlight the first class product on its Boeing 747-200s, and from a 2023 perspective shows a mix of how far technology has come, but also how soft product has changed so much.

The Air New Zealand 747 First Class was located in the nose cabin, and the front of that cabin (which had a wardrobe, was decorated in a New Zealand forest scene. This was also the location of the pull down movie screen used for projecting films (as it was still a decade or so before personal video players would become available). 16 seats in the cabin is a density that was reduced to 12 around the year 2000 and today in a 747 nose, Lufthansa only has 8 seats in First Class, because First Class is now a much more spacious hard product than in the 1980s.  Simply having pairs of seats side by side would be unacceptable in First Class in 2023 due to lack of privacy, but what is also notable is First Class seats were recliners with footrests, they did not lie flat. Almost all international airlines of any repute in 2023 have Business Class seats that convert into fully lie-flat beds for long-haul flights, but in 1982 First Class would typically be a wide recliner, albeit with sheepskin seat coverings (which has long disappeared no doubt due to wear and tear and resulting cost).

Air New Zealand highlighted that its First Class seats were made by Recaro from "West Germany" as it was then, and being highly ergonomic. No doubt highly regarded at the time, this wouldn't be seen as a competitive Business Class seat today.

However, the soft product compares much more favourably. The trolley depicting bottles of champagne (Lanson and Moet), with elaborately decorated trays of food to be dished out at the seat (with cake to be sliced, alongside cheeses and fruit, on the lower level of the trolley), harks to a time when airline food in First Class was meant to be special and akin to being in a fine restaurant.  Noting wines from New Zealand, Australia and France, a sample menu gives a clear indication of how special Air New Zealand thought First Class should be with a choice of cold Hors d'Oeuvres, a seafood course and a main of beef fillet or chicken, with options of vegetables or salad. 

Finally a list of the "special privileges" of First Class (and let's compare it to first or business class of today, noting Air New Zealand dropped First Class in 2005.

• Preflight seat selection (this is available in all classes, although some seats are reserved for priority frequent flyers)
• First Class Check-in Counter (standard to have first class counters, distinct from business class which itself is distinct from economy class check-in - Air NZ in Auckland has a dedicated premium check-in area, available to business class and Air NZ/Star Alliance Gold and better frequent flyers and Koru Club members)
• Special luggage labels with priority (class based bag tags and priority tags are available in first and business class, priority luggage service is very much airport dependent!)
• Use of lounges at New Zealand departure ports and en route as available (First and Business Class passengers generally have this). Noting the lounge is to "relax with a drink" and meet the "Chief Purser" - the latter is not so common in long-haul international lounges. Finally note the chance to meet fellow First and Pacific (Business) Class passengers, which tends to be not what happens in lounges nowadays, because they are so much bigger, less exclusive and intensely used.
• Personal recognition by cabin staff (this is expected in first class, and often achieved in business class)
• Cold/hot towel service when boarding and in flight (expected in first, business and premium economy)
• Selection of reading and writing material (increasingly disappearing, certainly rare to see writing materials)
• Superior quality headsets for audio/movie entertainment (expected in first and business, with noise cancelling technology, albeit entertainment always includes on-demand video screens)
• First choice of duty free merchandise (duty free is no longer sold on Air New Zealand and is increasingly uncommon among international airlines more generally)
• Complimentary In-Flight Bag (amenity kits are expected in first and business class)

Bear in mind business class (Pacific Class as it was branded) at the time, had only just been introduced by Air New Zealand, and that product consisted of economy class seats with blocked middle seats, sheepskin seat covers, and more seat pitch. Essentially inferior to modern day premium economy. 

Few would hark back to the age of First Class in terms of seating comfort, but there is some sense that the food and beverage service was on a level that simply isn't seen today on most airlines.

Newmans Air timetable October 1985

 

Newmans Air timetable 1 October 1985

Newmans Air advertising cabin comfort and service

Newmans Air passenger information

Newmans Air fare types

Newmans Air departures from Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch and Mt Cook

Newmans Air fares and route network

Newmans Air departures from Mount Cook, Queenstown and Wanaka

Newmans Air departures from Te Anau and passenger information

Newmans Air passenger information including in flight catering

Newmans rental and the Helicopter Line advertising

Newmans was a major tour and scheduled coach brand in New Zealand for over a century, originating in Nelson and until 1972 was a family-owned business focusing on scheduled, charter and tour coach services. It was acquired by Transport Nelson Ltd (TNL - Nelson's leading trucking operator, notable because Nelson was the largest New Zealand city without a railway by this date). Newmans by this time had scheduled operations in both islands.  TNL sought to acquire the Mount Cook Group in the early 1980s, but was rebuffed by Mount Cook's shareholders, as Newmans wanted to integrate the airline services of Mount Cook (and its rival coach and tour operations) into a larger operation.  However as Mount Cook Group accepted Air New Zealand as a shareholder to integrate into the latter's dominant domestic and growing international network.

Newmans decided to launch its own airline in competition, using De Havilland Dash-7 aircraft which it saw as superior to Mount Cook's HS748s, not least because the overhead wing design of the Dash-7 enabled unfettered views of the scenery along the Southern Alps.  Newmans also wanted to offer superior on-board service to Mount Cook. It started operations on 13 February 1985 Auckland-Rotorua-Christchurch-Queenstown.  Glentanner airport was added as a stop at Mount Cook, because Mount Cook Group didn't allow Newmans Air to use its airport. 

Although popular with passengers, the four-engined Dash 7 was a fuel-thirsty aircraft, especially since its STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) capabilities were really only needed at Glentanner Aerodrome.  However, Newmans Air did later operate services through Ashburton airport for some Christchurch-Queenstown services. 

Newmans Air struggled financially, losing $5m in 18 months. Air New Zealand's effective take-over of Mount Cook Airline had not helped, as it funnelled much more business to its competitor, as Newmans would interline with only a few foreign airlines at Auckland to get inbound tourism business.

but with relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions on domestic airlines (allowing up to 50% foreign ownership), saw Australian carrier Ansett buy 50% of Newmans in 1986, with Brierley Investments buying 27.5%, the intention being to set up a rival to Air New Zealand on major domestic routes.   What was initially branded as Ansett-Newmans ordered De Havilland Dash-8 aircraft to replace the Dash-7s (a later version of the Dash 8 flies today with Air New Zealand).  Those Dash-8s were branded Ansett Newmans (more on this is at the 3rdlevel blog including pictures) with Ansett Australian font, and the Newmans pegasus logo on the tail.

The big breakthrough was on 28 January 1987 when Ansett Newmans started flying non-stop flights between Auckland and Christchurch with the Dash-8 aircraft and within a month the airline had rebranded to Ansett New Zealand.  This was a soft launch, as on 25 July 1987 Ansett New Zealand's full service rival to Air New Zealand would fly Auckland-Wellington-Christchurch with Boeing 737-100 aircraft, and the Dash 7s had been sold.  By April 1988 foreign ownership restrictions were removed altogether (unheard of internationally, as New Zealand was the first country in the world to allow fully foreign owned domestic airline ownership) and Ansett Australia bought the Newmans and Brierley shareholdings of Ansett New Zealand owned, and Ansett New Zealand became a fully owned subsidiary of Ansett Australia.

Of course the story of Ansett New Zealand is for another day, but Newmans Air was perhaps the first "big" rival to major airline incumbents in the 1980s which providing the launching pad for the biggest battle of them all.

Air New Zealand fleet fact sheets 1983 and 1985

 

Air NZ Boeing 747-200B 

Air NZ Boeing 737-200 and Fokker Friendship

Air NZ McDonnell Douglas DC8-50 F and fleet history

Air New Zealand route network 1983

Air NZ Boeing 747-200B (1985)

Air NZ Boeing 767-200ER and Boeing 737-200

Air NZ Fokker F27 Friendship and fleet history (1985)

Air NZ route network 1985

Air New Zealand used to make available information sheets about its current fleet, above are two different issues for 1983 and 1985.  The key difference is the 1983 issue includes the single DC-8F freighter and the 1985 issue include the Boeing 767-200ER.

Other notable differences between the two years include:

• 1985 edition notes a sixth Boeing 747 is on order
• Seating capacity on the Boeing 747s has dropped by three seats in economy
• The order for Boeing 737-200 Advanced is noted in the 1985 edition (which would ultimately replace the six NAC era Boeing 737s)
• Hong Kong and Port Moresby dropped from 1985 route map
• Adding Christchurch-Nadi to 1985 route map
• Adding Honolulu-Vancouver to 1985 route map
• Adding Wellington-Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane to 1985 route map

Undoubtedly the introduction of the Boeing 767s gave Air New Zealand significantly greater flexibility to add new routes, not just restarting Tasman services from Wellington, but also redeploying Boeing 747s from Tasmania and Pacific routes.

Mount Cook Airline Timetable 01 October 1986

 

Mount Cook Airline route map 1986

Mount Cook Airline timetable glossary

Mount Cook Airline fare and service terms and conditions

Mount Cook Airline special flights and VIP service

Mount Cook Airline timetable departures from Alexandra, Auckland and Bay of Islands

Mount Cook Airline timetable departures from Christchurch

Mount Cook Airline timetable departures from Dunedin, Milford Sound and Mount Cook

Mount Cook Airline timetable departures from Mount Cook, Queenstown and Rotorua

Mount Cook Airline timetable departures from Rotorua and Te Anau

Mount Cook Airline timetable departures from Te Anau and Wellington

Mount Cook Airline timetable office and agents

Mount Cook Airline timetable offices

The timetable above for Mount Cook Airlines was about at the peak of the airline's operations before Air New Zealand took substantial and eventually full control of the airline, before absorbing it completely into its operations.

The Mount Cook Group had a long history in the tourism sector in New Zealand, initially with long-distance coach services. From 1920 to 1961, rather erratically, there were a number of Mount Cook airline operations with charter services, but from 1961 it started operating scheduled services (see more here).

Services were initially operated by Douglas DC-3s, focused on flying Christchurch-Mount Cook to Queenstown, noting that Mount Cook airfield was built by the Mount Cook Group many years before for its charter services (this would later become an issue when Newmans Air became a competitor and Mount Cook Group was uninterested in letting it fly to its own privately owned airport).

From 1968 Mount Cook Airline started flying Hawker Siddeley HS748s, its first fully-pressurised aircraft and established its core route - Auckland-Rotorua-Christchurch-Mount Cook-Queenstown. At the time, domestic airline services were heavily regulated, so it had effectively a statutory monopoly on this route (state-owned NAC, later Air New Zealand did NOT operate this route).  With the death of Sir Henry Wigley (a founder of the Mount Cook Group) in 1980, Air New Zealand subsequently acquired a small shareholding in the airline, increasing this to 30% in 1983, up to 47% in October 1985 as Air New Zealand sought to avoid the Mount Cook Group becoming the basis for a serious competitor to it.  

In 1986 the Mount Cook Group was focused on not just airline services, but its "Landline" brand of scheduled, tour and charter coach services, including the Auckland-Wellington Landliner and similar services from Auckland to Napier/Hastings, Christchurch to Queenstown and connecting services to Mount Cook (it was notable as a coach operator with buses that had on-board bathrooms, which was unknown in most competitions, such as NZR Road Services and Newmans).

Mount Cook Group was a growing tourism operator, with also a solid business in sightseeing flights to Te Anau and Milford.

In October 1986 this timetable saw Mount Cook Airline as connecting with Air New Zealand's services, with the key trunk Mount Cook route supplemented by services from Dunedin to Queenstown via Alexandra operated by Britten Norman Islander aircraft, the Auckland-Kerikeri (Bay of Islands) route with Piper Chieftains. 

In 1991 Air New Zealand acquired the remaining shares in Mount Cook Airline and it became a fully-owned subsidiary, based in Christchurch. As with Eagle Airways and Air Nelson, Air New Zealand treated Mount Cook Airline as one of its regional domestic airline operations.  Mount Cook's operations transitioned in the 1990s to the Aerospatiale ATR-72, and Mount Cook Airline essentially operated any domestic services using the largest turboprop aircraft (Air Nelson would operate the Bombardier/De Havilland Q300/Dash 8 and Eagle Airways the Beechcraft B-1900). In 2019 Air New Zealand would fully integrate Mount Cook Airline's operations.

In 1986 Mount Cook Airline was noted as having a rather better level of inflight service than Air New Zealand on domestic routes, noting "on long-haul services (!), the refreshments we offer include fruit juice, sandwiches, cake, fresh fruit, cheese and crackers, coffee or tea". Note the absence of any alcoholic beverages on domestic flights. Baggage allowance was 16kg (whereas 23kg is the standard today). Checkin time was 20 minutes. 

Also notable is the statement that a HS748 could be reconfigured into a VIP layout with "meeting tables, bar and full galley facilities", I wonder how often that happened?

Note at the time of this timetable, Air New Zealand did NOT fly to Queenstown or Kerikeri.  Finally, it is worth noting that for a brief period, Mount Cook Airlines considered flying internationally from Christchurch to Australia.  3rdlevelNZ blog has the story as part of its history of the airline. 

Today Air New Zealand does not operate services to several of the airports operated by Mount Cook Airline at the time of this timetable. Alexandra, Te Anau, Milford and indeed Mount Cook Airport.  Regular services to Mount Cook Airport ceased in 2002, although there was a short resumption of service from December 2012 till January 2013.  So there is literally no airline service to Mount Cook!

Air New Zealand profile 1982/1983

 

This document is a corporate profile from Air New Zealand that appears to be 1982/1983, a time of great turmoil for the airline, which was in significant financial difficulty, but not that you would know from this profile. It was about to face full liberalisation of the domestic airline market (but no serious challenge to its main trunk route for several years) and had a significant 

At the time Air New Zealand was 100% Crown owned, and operated a fleet of three types of passenger aircraft (Boeing 747-200s, Boeing 737-200s and Fokker F-27 Friendships), plus cargo aircraft (McDonnell Douglas DC8-50F and Safe Air's Armstrong Whitworth Argosy 222s and Bristol B170 Freighters).  Also noted is one Boeing 737-200QC (convertible between freight and passenger accommodation) which can carry 15 tonnes of freight, it also noted Argosy's could carry 12 tonnes and Bristol Freighters  5.5 tonnes (depending on conditions). 

It highlights the five 747s as the backbone of its international operations (with a sixth ordered for 1986), but also foreshadows new "double-aisled twinjets" (which would eventually be the Boeing 767-200ER), which hadn't been formally announced or decided at the time (as presumably the Airbus A310 was still under consideration).  Ten Boeing 737-200s were listed as operating main trunk domestic and some services to Pacific Islands, and Fifteen F-27 Friendships for regional routes.  The images on page three of Boeing 737 and F-27 include the post-merger (NAC/Air NZ) livery, and notably the two logos of Air New Zealand and NAC just underneath the starboard cockpit windows. 

Other curious statistics from the time include:

• 6,800 staff, of which 450 are offshore (today it is over 7,800 but with a fleet of 105 aircraft compared to 30 then).
• $300 million a year spent on consumables in New Zealand per annum
• Flight kitchens operated by the airline in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Rarotonga, of which 50% of production is for other airlines. Auckland's flight kitchen preparing nearly 1.5 million meals per annum (today around 740,000 international passengers depart each month!)
• Annual revenues of around $800m
• It had shareholdings in Air Pacific, Polynesian Airlines, Cook Islands Airways, Mount Cook Group and the Sheraton Auckland.
• Two major engineering bases at Auckland and Christchurch with assets worth over $150m
• Cargo shipped is around 200m tonne/km per annum

On aircraft the Fokker Friendships could carry 40 or 48 seats and Boeing 737-200s 113 passengers in international configuration and 121 for domestic.  Boeing 747-200s had what would today be seen as a quite high density LOPA of 385 economy class, 16 business class and 16 first class seats. 

The route network map domestically notably includes airports like Oamaru, Whanganui,Westport, Whakatane and Kaitaia abandoned by Air New Zealand in recent years.  Internationally only Port Moresby and London are no longer operated by the airline, Port Moresby was operated as part of the Hong Kong route in association with Air Niugini and Cathay Pacific.  Curious also is the Christchurch-Hobart service, and of course no services internationally from Wellington after the termination of the unprofitable McDonnell Douglas DC-8 fleet. 

Eagle Airways Timetable 29 October 1985

 

Cover and schematic route map

Bargain fares and contents

Passenger information

Passenger information and standard fares

Auckland and Gisborne departures

Gisborne and Hamilton departures

Hertz and Bargain fares

Napier and New Plymouth departures

New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Rotorua departures

Rotorua, Tauranga, Wanganui and Wellington departures

Wellington departures and Southern Cross Airways

Cookson's Airline Division

Eagle Airways was one of the most successful airlines to take advantage of the 1982 deregulation of the airline industry, although its history dates back to 1969 organisationally, and 1975 for the first type of airline service.  A detailed history is available here but by 1985 it was owned by NZI Finance and already had an automated computerised reservation system, which linked to Air New Zealand, as it had grown to become a major North Island third level airline, having merged with Napier based Air Central. Eagle Airways was Hamilton based, and its largest aircraft was the Embraer Bandeirante which had 18 seats for passengers, plus a toilet, and although unpressurised, it was a significant step up from the 9 seat  Piper Chieftains or 5 seat Beechcraft Barons operated on some routes.  

This timetable highlights a number of aspects of the airline's service at the time:

• Checkin closed at 20 minutes before departure
• Baggage allowance was 16kg for a single item
• Standard fares ranged from $53 (Hamilton-Tauranga/Rotorua) to $142 (Wellington-Auckland) ($177 to $474 in today's prices exc. GST). Bargain fares ranged from $32 to $85 (seven days advance purchase)
• Children under 15 half fare, under 4yo not occupying a seat, free.
• Connecting services to  Southern Cross Airways (Auckland-Whangarei) and Cookson (Wairoa)
• Many routes hubbed through Hamilton (Auckland-Wellington was possible but a 2.5 hour flight via Hamilton and Palmerston North).

Direct routes were as follows:

• Auckland-Hamilton
• Gisborne-Hamilton
• Gisborne-Napier
• Hamilton-Napier
• Hamilton-New Plymouth
• Hamilton-Palmerston North
• Hamilton-Rotorua
• Hamilton-Tauranga
• Hamilton-Wanganui
• Napier-Palmerston North
• New Plymouth-Palmerston North
• New Plymouth-Wanganui
• Palmerston North-Wellington

What is perhaps most notable about this era was how well connected a LOT of regional cities and towns were with each other with such services, much more so than today. 

By 1988 Eagle Airways and Air Nelson had started working together, effectively enabling tickets to be sold connecting across both islands, but this was all to change later than year when Air New Zealand saw the opportunity with the disposal of its Fokker F27 Friendship fleet to acquire an efficient smaller airline to operate regional services, and bought 50% of both Eagle Airways and Air Nelson.  This saw Eagle Airways coming under the Air New Zealand umbrella, with it taking over services from Auckland to Kaitaia, Whangarei and Gisborne, and progressively took over many of the North Island Air New Zealand routes.  More Embraer Bandeirantes were acquired later supplemented by Swearingen Metroliners.  In 1993, Air New Zealand bought the remaining 50% of Eagle Airways making it a fully owned subsidiary.  The subsidiary would remain for many years, with its staff and operations subject to their own conditions and management, fitting in with the wider Air New Zealand network (as did Air Nelson and Mt Cook Airlines). The final chapter was the introduction in 2001 of the Beechcraft 1900D to replace all of the legacy Eagle Airways fleet, so Eagle Airways was the operator of the smallest aircraft in the Air New Zealand family, with 19 seats, flying to the lowest density airports.  The Beech 1900D would fly on until 2016 when Air New Zealand decided to close Eagle Airways as it could not find an economical replacement for the aircraft, and routes that could not be transitioned to the De Havilland Dash-8 were closed.

Eagle Airways had a significant presence in New Zealand airline history, which provided both access and competition to many regional centres that didn't previously exist, it was so successful its largest rival would simply buy it up and use its efficient and well honed operations to provide services to smaller airports.