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.