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.

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.

Proof that all 747s are not created equal

 

Air New Zealand Boeing 747 launch leaflet

With the introduction of Air New Zealand's first Boeing 747-200 in 1981, it promoted the launch with this colour leaflet called "Proof.. that all 747s are not created equal" to highlight how it thought it had a LOPA (Layout of Passenger Accommodation) to beat its rivals (most of which already flew Boeing 747s.

The leaflet depicted an aircraft that by 2023 standards would be seen as "premium light", as four out of the five main deck cabins were all in economy class. 388 seats in economy class in a 3-4-3 configuration is fairly "normal", and it claims the seat pitch for all economy seats is identical (although it does not reveal what that was, it is believed to be 34 inches (which was fairly generous, and increasingly so as airlines in the 80s and 90s would seek to pack more seats into a 747).  Although seat technology has moved on, it is noticeable that today that level of seat pitch is seen only in Economy Stretch on long-haul aircraft today. The seat is called the Fairchild Burns 2000 Mark II.

The 747 was the launch aircraft for the first generation of Air New Zealand's business class, then called "Pacific Class".  It was located in the small upper deck, with five rows of seats, four on one side had a middle table.  Air New Zealand did however call it a "new concept" in economy class air travel.  Sheepskin clad seats, with a higher seat height, the customary side storage bins seen in 747s upper decks, added to the exclusivity of the upper deck location. Air New Zealand also highlighted the use of the rectangular staircase rather than the traditional spiral staircase on other 747s at the time.  It seems likely that the Pacific Class seats were in fact the economy class seats with sheepskin seat covers and greater pitch!

First Class was highlighted, being in the nose cabin, named as the Recaro Dream Chair 2020 (this was an age when naming seats for 21st century years was clearly the trend).  This is a classic first class recliner, with tilting seat bottom and legrest.  Noting the seat pitch of 60 inches, and there being 16 seats in the cabin, this is relatively crowded by today's standards for first class.  Indeed around 20 years later Air New Zealand would take out one row of its next generation first class seats on 747-400s so it was easy to walk between rows even if the front row was fully reclined.  Indeed, look today at the LOPA for Lufthansa's Boeing 747-8s (below) with first class taking up only eight single seats, it is clear that long-haul first class has progressed significantly in terms of cabin and seat comfort (let alone business class).

Finally it is worth noting that this was the age of very basic inflight entertainment. All cabins had movie screens and projectors, and so passengers would face a single choice of inflight movies on long flights, or simply choose to wear eye masks.  Headsets for sound were all fairly basic, in economy being essentially plastic tubes and in the premium classes soft foam covered headphones being the order of the day.

Air New Zealand's Boeing 747-200s replaced the McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, themselves tainted by the Erebus disaster. These aircraft would be the flagships until 1990 when the Boeing 747-400s would appear, and the last Boeing 747-200 was phased out in 2000.  In the 1980s they would fly the flagship Auckland-Honolulu-Los Angeles-London route (initially to Gatwick before landing rights were obtained for Heathrow), and also the Auckland-Papeete-Los Angeles route, along with services to Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo Narita (and umpteen Trans-Tasman services).  Boeing 747-200s did NOT have the range to fly non-stop with a commercial load between New Zealand and the USA, which is why the Boeing 747-400s when they emerged in 1990 would become the new flagship for the airline.

They would be refurbished in the 1990s with the "Pacific Wave" livery and "proper" business class seating (and first class removed, as they were relegated to secondary routes), before being phased out. I flew once on one, from Los Angeles to Auckland via Honolulu (in 1998), and was fortunate to have been upgraded to business class.