Air New Zealand [6] is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim.[7] The airline has been a member of the Star Alliance since 1999.[8]
Air New Zealand succeeded Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) on 1 April 1965. The airline served only international routes until 1978, when the government merged it and the domestic New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NAC) into a single airline under the Air New Zealand name. Air New Zealand was privatised in 1989, but returned to majority government ownership in 2001 after nearing bankruptcy due to a failed tie-up with Australian carrier Ansett Australia. In the 2017 financial year to June, Air New Zealand carried 15.95 million passengers.[9]
Air New Zealand's route network focuses on Australasia and the South Pacific, with long-haul flight services to eastern Asia and North America. It was the last airline to circumnavigate the world with flights to London Heathrow via Los Angeles and Hong Kong. The Hong Kong stopover was discontinued in March 2013 when Air New Zealand stopped Hong Kong–London flights in favour of a codeshare agreement with Cathay Pacific.[10][11] Flights to London Heathrow by the airline stopped altogether in 2020 due to heavy competition and a lack of demand.[12] The airline's main hub is Auckland Airport, located near Māngere in the southern part of the Auckland urban area.[13] Air New Zealand is headquartered in a building called "The Hub", located 20 km from Auckland Airport, in Auckland's Wynyard Quarter.[14]
Air New Zealand currently operates a mixed fleet consisting of the Airbus A320, Airbus A320neo family, Boeing 777, and Boeing 787 jet aircraft, as well as a regional fleet consisting of ATR 72 and Bombardier Q300 turboprop aircraft. Air New Zealand was awarded Airline of the Year in 2010[15] and 2012[16] by the Air Transport World Global Airline Awards. In 2014, Air New Zealand was ranked the safest airline in the world by JACDEC.[17]
History
On 1 April 1965, Tasman Empire Airways Limited was rebranded as Air New Zealand.[18][19][20]
With the increased range of the Douglas DC-8s the airline's first jet aircraft, Air New Zealand began transpacific services to the United States and Asia with Los Angeles and Honolulu added as destinations in 1965. The airline further acquired wide-body McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliners in 1973. The DC-10s introduced the new koru-inspired logo for the airline, which remains to this day.[20]
In 1978, the domestic airline National Airways Corporation (NAC) and its subsidiary Safe Air were merged into Air New Zealand to form a single national airline, further expanding the carrier's operations. As a result, NAC's
Corporate affairs and identity
Head office
The Air New Zealand head office, "The Hub", is a 15600 m² office park located at the corner of Beaumont and Fanshawe streets in Wynyard Quarter, Auckland.[47][48] The office includes two connected six-level buildings.[48] The facility consists of a lot of glass to allow sunlight and therefore reduce electricity consumption. The building does not have cubicle walls. Sensors throughout the building can turn on lights if they detect human activity, and turn off lights if human activity is not detected for 15 minutes.[49] The buildings cost $60 million New Zealand dollars to build and develop. From late September to early October 2006 the airline moved 1,000 employees from four buildings in the Auckland CBD and other buildings elsewhere.
Destinations
Air New Zealand serves domestic and international destinations in countries and territories across Asia, North America and Oceania.
Air New Zealand previously operated four fifth freedom routes. The airline operated weekly flights from Rarotonga to Sydney and Los Angeles, in addition to flights connecting via Auckland.[80] In 2012, after securing a contract from the Australian government – Air New Zealand launched twice-weekly services from Sydney and Brisbane to Norfolk Island on its A320 aircraft.
Joint ventures
Air New Zealand has Joint venture agreements with the following airlines:
Codeshare agreements
Fleet
As of September 2025, Air New Zealand operates 115 aircraft. The jet fleet consists of: 17 domestic Airbus A320, 5 domestic Airbus A321neo, and 9 Airbus A321neo and 6 A320neo aircraft for international short-haul flights, and ten Boeing 777-300ER and fourteen Boeing 787–9 Dreamliner jet aircraft for long-haul flights. The airline has four Airbus A321neo, five Boeing 787-9 and five Boeing 787-10 aircraft on order.[95][96]
The airline's turboprop fleet operates regional domestic services and consists of 54 aircraft: 31 ATR 72–600 aircraft and 23 De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q300 aircraft.[95]
Services
Cabins
Air New Zealand offers three classes on its wide-body Boeing 777 and 787 jets: business, premium economy, and economy. The airline operates a single-class economy cabin on its narrow-body Airbus A320/A321 jets and its turboprops.
In-flight Wi-Fi
Since October 2017, the airline began gradually implementing complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi service on its aircraft.[97] In February 2024, the airline announced the introduction of free Wi-Fi on board service via Starlink satellite Internet across all its routes. This service is expected to be implemented in 2025.[98]
Air New Zealand Lounge
The Air New Zealand Lounge is Air New Zealand's network of
Incidents and accidents
As of November 2022 Air New Zealand has had four hull losses and two hijackings. The airline's worst accident, and only accident with passenger fatalities, was Flight 901 on 28 November 1979, which crashed into Mount Erebus on a sightseeing flight over Antarctica, killing all 257 on board.
Controversies
Outsourcing maintenance
On 19 October 2005, Air New Zealand proposed outsourcing most of its heavy maintenance on its long-haul aircraft and engines, which would result in about 600 job losses, mostly in Auckland.[99] Air New Zealand said that there were larger maintenance providers that could provide maintenance work more cheaply due to their large scale. The proposal was estimated to save $48 million over five years and came after many attempts to attract contracts to service other airlines' longhaul aircraft.[100]
Eventually, a union proposal to save some of the remaining jobs was accepted. The proposal included shift and pay changes (most of them pay cuts) which would allow about 300 engineers in Auckland to keep their jobs. 200 were made redundant or resigned.[101]
Minor seating policy
Alternative propulsion and emissions of greenhouse gases
In a 2008 effort to develop an aviation biofuel, Air New Zealand and Boeing researched the jatropha plant to see if it was a viable green alternative to conventional fuel.[110] A two-hour test flight, using a 50–50 mixture of the new biofuel with Jet A-1 feeding a Rolls-Royce RB211 engine of one of the airline's 747-400s, was completed on 30 December 2008. The engine was then removed to be scrutinised and studied to identify any differences between the jatropha blend and regular Jet A1. No effects to performances were found. The use of jatropha was identified as a possible future fuel but large tracts of low quality land needed to grow the plant would have to be found without impeding other agricultural uses.[111] In 2022, Air New Zealand adopted a 2030 target to reduce its emissions by almost 29%.[112] In July 2024, Air NZ had announced the withdrawal of its 2030 climate target and that it would also withdraw from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The Spinoff website reported that this raises serious credibility questions for Air New Zealand.[113]
Awards
In 2020, Air New Zealand was named "Best Airline" in the Airline Excellence Awards 2020 carried out by AirlineRatings.com.[114]
In 2023, Air New Zealand was named AirlineRatings.com's Airline of the Year for 2023.[115]
In 2025, Air New Zealand was named World's Safest Airline by AirlineRatings.com, among a raft of others.[116]
Baggage tracker policy
Although Air New Zealand and fellow Star Alliance member Lufthansa briefly banned baggage trackers in 2022, those bans and advisories were reversed in 2023.[117][118]
Bibliography
See also
- Air transport in New Zealand
- List of airports in New Zealand
- List of airlines of New Zealand
- Transport in New Zealand
External links
References
- Air New Zealand Limited (104799) – Companies Office Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, retrieved 7 September 2014^
- Airline Membership IATA^
- Air New Zealand Group Executive team Air New Zealand, retrieved 22 October 2025^