Adiós Wamos, Air NZ confirms it is flying to Perth again

Tuesday, 23 April 2024

The Spanish airline is leasing a plane to Air New Zealand on the Auckland-Perth route (note: video has no sound).

Wamos Air had been in a lease agreement with Air New Zealand to fly on the Auckland-Perth route.
Air NZ to resume flying the route with its aircraft next month.
Air New Zealand general manager of short haul Jeremy O’Brien thanked Wamos saying the partnership “worked incredibly well”.

Air New Zealand is to resume flying its aircraft to Perth, Australia at the beginning of next month, ending its lease agreement with Wamos Air.

The Spanish charter airline has been flying from Auckland to Western Australia while the national carrier continues to grapple with engine-supply issues.

Wamos has been operating on the route since February, the second time it has been brought in as part of a ‘wet-lease’ agreement whereby the airline provides the crew, and the planes keep the look and feel of the lessor.

Air New Zealand general manager of short haul Jeremy O’Brien said one of its widebody aircraft would fly the route from May 1.

“We regularly move aircraft around to service our schedule, particularly while we await the delivery of new aircraft and continue to have ongoing challenges with the availability of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines,” O’Brien told Stuff Travel.

O’Brien thanked Wamos, saying the partnership “worked incredibly well”.

“Working with them has ensured we could get customers to where they needed to go and provide some resilience into our operation.”

Wamos Air operates mainly leisure charter flights, but also leases out planes and crew. It has a fleet of 10 aircraft with a mix of Airbus A330-200s and Airbus A330-300s, and was founded in 2003.

The only other airline offering direct Auckland to Perth flights is Batik Air.

Last week, Air New Zealand said it was planning to return to Hobart and Seoul, South Korea in October 2024, after temporarily axing the routes over the New Zealand winter.

Both will be seasonal services between October and March, with the airline operating three direct flights a week.

The airline paused the Hobart route from April 5 as aircraft used on the route underwent maintenance on their Pratt & Whitney engines. It also announced it was delaying a return to Chicago until probably into the second half of next year.

Air New Zealand also plans to boost capacity, mostly in premium cabins, to Singapore, Tokyo and Taipei by replacing the 787 aircraft currently flying to these destinations with a larger 777-300.