Air New Zealand will upgrade its daily Auckland-Perth service in September this year, pushing more seats – including lie-flat business class seats – onto the route.
From 3 September the NZ flag-carrier will run a Boeing 777-200ER in place of the current Boeing 767-300, boosting capacity on the route by more than 20%.
Significantly for corporate travellers, this will see the introduction of lie-flat Business Premier beds along with Premium Economy seating.
Note that these are not the latest-generation Business Premier or Premium Economy 'Spaceseats' as offered on Air New Zealand's Boeing 777-300ER.
But they're still a fair shake better than what you currently get, including a 22" wide leather armchair which converts to a 6' 7" bed if you want to stretch out during the flight, which averages 7 hours.
Air New Zealand Group General Manager Australasia Bruce Parton says Perth is one of the airline’s fastest growing routes, with a significant increase in demand over the past 12 months.
“Western Australia is the fastest-growing economy in Australia and we’ve seen double-digit growth in visitor arrivals from Perth over the past year, with particularly strong growth over the past quarter."
“This has prompted us in conjunction with our alliance partner Virgin Australia to review our schedule and capacity to better match that strong demand from travellers on both sides of the Tasman. We’re confident the 777 will be a very popular choice for this route and that bookings will continue to grow as a result."
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
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