In the next five years, Air New Zealand expects to purchase 13 aircraft. In its most recent financial announcement, the airline said that its financial results had finally improved after three years of losses.
During H2 FY2023 (ending in June 2023) and 2028, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) will deliver the aircraft. For the second half of fiscal year 2023, the airline will receive one Airbus A320neo/A321neo, two in 2024, and two in 2027. Boeing will also deliver a total of eight 787s, two each in the years 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028.
Through the year 2028, the New Zealand airline expects to spend a total of NZD3 billion ($1.86 billion) on the acquisition of the aircraft. Past that date, no additional orders are anticipated. The airline intends to have 111 aircraft in its fleet in 2026, up from 104 at the end of 2022, according to its fleet expansion plan.
The airline anticipates adding four Boeing 787s, five Airbus A320/A321neos, and retiring one Boeing 777-300ER and one Airbus A320 from service by 2026. It will also remodel the cabins of 14 of its Boeing 787 aircraft; work is not expected to start before mid-2024.
In its most recent financial report, Air New Zealand stated that the upgrade should cost roughly NZD450 million ($280.2 million), “staggered over several years.”
With a net profit of NZD213 million ($132.6 million), the airline completed the first quarter of FY2023, which ended on December 31, 2022. In comparison to the preceding time, when it transported 3.2 million passengers, it carried over 7.9 million during the six-month period, with load factors rising from 58.5% to 87.5%.
The carrier was able to turn a profit despite operating costs rising to NZD2.4 billion ($1.4 billion), which is more than double the operating costs Air New Zealand experienced in H1 FY2022 (NZD1.1 billion, $685.7 million). Overall revenues increased from NZD1.1 billion ($685.5 million) to NZD3 billion ($1.8 billion).
“Today’s result highlights an important milestone in our recovery and places us in a great position to deliver on our goal,” the airline’s chair, Dame Therese Walsh, said.
Walsh continued, “When New Zealand’s borders reopened much sooner than anticipated, our people rose to the occasion, moving swiftly to return aircraft to service, relaunch 29 routes, and onboard more than 3,000 employees to support the eight million customers we flew between July and December – the busiest period we’ve seen in more than three years.
Investigators from New Zealand will investigate into the Air New Zealand Boeing 777 loss of control event that occurred on the ground.
