Flight review: Air NZ’s $35m retrofitted Dreamliner takes off on inaugural passenger service
Monday, 19 May 2025
It’s been seven years in the making - and finally Air NZ’s first nose-to-tail retrofitted Dreamliner has taken off.
The first commercial service on the refreshed 787-9 departed Auckland for Brisbane just before 9.30am on Monday. It will return to Auckland this afternoon before flying out to San Francisco this evening and back again. The new plane will mainly fly Auckland to Brisbane, San Francisco and Vancouver routes.
The route
NZ145, known as NZH, Auckland to Brisbane.
The plane
The first of Air NZ’s $35m retrofitted Dreamliners, which took 184 days to complete. Though CEO Greg Foran said they were making tweaks right up until yesterday.
The aircraft has new business premier luxe seats and updated business premier, premium economy and economy cabins. A total of seven aircraft will be completed by the end of the year, while the remaining seven will undergo their retrofits in Singapore in 2026.
The seat
I’m at the pointy end of the cabin in 1J, which is one of four business premier luxe seats. These seats in the first row are larger than business premier, with an additional seating area so a travel companion can sit and dine with you. There are also privacy dividers across the aisle if you want to avoid peering into your neighbour’s booth. However, on this flight, they weren’t working. The dividers are still awaiting Civil Aviation Authority approval, but an Air NZ spokesperson said they should be able to be used by the end of the week.
One of the exciting new features in all business seats is the wireless charging station, although the movement of the aircraft did slide my phone off the connection point a few times. Still, it’s a great feature.
There are two compartments that can be used for storage, a reading light on the side of your seat, a USB-A, USB-C and standard NZ plug. The tray table pops up by pushing an electronic button on the right-hand side, but halfway through the flight it stopped working in my seat. A flight attendant had to use a manual button inside the storage compartment to release it.
Seats recline to a lie-flat bed in 25 seconds, and have an adjustable headrest. The business premier luxe seats also have a slightly bigger bed.
The seatbelt has not just a waist belt, but also a shoulder strap that connects to the main buckle into a three-point safety belt.
Comfort factor
Prior to taking off, Greg Foran acknowledged their position in the market as a “premium leisure carrier”.
“The quality of the product is not designed to be first class and gold plated, but it’s very comfortable, it represents our brand, who we are, how we’re positioned, and it will do a very good job for the next seven to 10 years.”
From my point of view in business premier luxe, it was more than just ‘very comfortable’. The booths are spacious and I was able to work comfortably with my laptop on the tray table, with enough space for food and drink too. As it was only a short flight across the Tasman I didn’t get to make full use of the lie-flat bed and have a snooze.
The entertainment
The in-flight entertainment system (IFE) has had a total overhaul throughout the cabin. In business premier the 4K HD screens are a whopping 24 inches (60.9cm). One of the new features that will please travellers throughout all cabins is you can now use your Bluetooth headphones without needing an adapter. You can pair your headphones or earbuds directly to the IFE.
There are new in-flight 3D maps and you can look at the route from different viewpoints, such as through the cabin or cockpit windows. The remote uses a touch pad, and you can even pair your smartphone device to use that as a remote as well.
Visuals are sharp on screen. I ended up watching black comedy thriller Nightbitch with Amy Adams. Because I was wearing my own Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones, the audio was great and I was oblivious to other conversations and background noise.
The amenities
On this flight, business premier and luxe passengers received a beautiful Deadly Ponies bag to mark the inaugural flight, however passengers will usually receive the traditional Aotea amenities pack on long-haul flights.
The food
The plane might feel new but the menu hasn’t changed. As we took off just before 9.30am, breakfast was served. In business, I had a mango and banana smoothie to start, with a fruit platter, croissant and the herb and spinach omelette with capsicum and chorizo. Other breakfast options included the toasted banana bread with berry compote and a warm breakfast roll with bacon and caramelised onions and egg.
However, to mark the inaugural service, there was an Emilia Wickstead-themed gin cocktail to celebrate the new cabin crew uniforms, made with Scapegrace Uncommon gin, blackcurrant and boysenberry with freeze-dried blackberry.
The service
The crew were dressed in their new uniforms designed by Emilia Wickstead and talked about being excited for the journey. Greg Foran himself even wandered down wearing the apron to help with service.
In business, crew called us by name and introduced themselves and offered the outstanding service they are renowned for.
The verdict
Very comfortable. I am looking forward to testing out the other cabins in premium economy and economy in future.
The writer was hosted by Air New Zealand.