DALLAS - Air New Zealand has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321neo, which will be used on domestic flights.

The aircraft ZK-OYA arrived at Auckland (AKL) from Airbus' Hamburg facility, flying through Muscat (MCT), Kuala Lumpur (KUL), and Cairns (CNS). This is the first of seven domestic A321neos Air New Zealand will receive through 2026. 

According to the Auckland-based carrier, the plane is going through pre-service readiness checks before it is scheduled to operate its first commercial service on November 8. The flight will fly from Auckland International Airport (AUK) to Wellington International Airport (WLG). 

The A321neo will fly between Auckland (AUK), Wellington (WLG), Queenstown (ZQN), Christchurch (CHC), and Dunedin (DUD). The domestically configured aircraft has 217 seats, with both the domestic and international configurations having 37 rows. The A321neo has 50 more seats than the Airbus A320s used on domestic routes.

Air New Zealand's Fleet

The carrier has 17 Airbus A320ceos in its fleet, which operates short-haul international and domestic flights. In addition to the new domestic A321neo, the carrier has a fleet of six other internationally configured A321neo. The airline operates a fleet of 98 aircraft. 

Additionally, Air New Zealand has resumed flights to all 29 pre-pandemic international destinations, as the carrier resumed flights to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Bali Ngurah Rai (DPS). The carrier announced on October 31 that it would operate flights three times weekly using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner between AUK and ORD.

Chicago is Air New Zealand's seventh destination in North America which includes Houston (IAH), Honolulu (HNL), Vancouver (YVR), San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), and New York City (JFK). 

Also, the airline will resume flights between AUK and DPS using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner starting in March 2023. The flight will operate three times weekly and will operate until October 2023.

Featured image: Air New Zealand A321neo. Photo: Air New Zealand