'Game on': Air New Zealand announces ramp up of 'hugely important' Tasman flights

Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Stuff Travel journalist Emma Stanford got a look inside Air New Zealand's newly retrofitted Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner before its maiden journey.

For Air New Zealand chief commercial officer Jeremy O’Brien there is a real sense the airline has turned the corner.

For months, the national carrier has been dealing with the lingering effects of Covid-19 on the aviation industry, and the ongoing engine inspection issues which have hobbled its fleet. There were also delays to new Boeing aircraft and it seemed Air New Zealand couldn’t catch a break.

Rival Qantas sniffed an opportunity and has been making big inroads into the trans-Tasman market, as well as taking on Air NZ on the Perth and New York routes.

But over the last few weeks, the PR department at Air New Zealand has been steadily pumping out good news stories - a new Christchurch-Adelaide route, more long-haul summer services, the fleet of Dreamliners being retrofitted and upgraded, more flights between Auckland and Christchurch, and plans to service Australia’s new multi-billion-dollar airport in Western Sydney.

Now the airline is seeking to change the narrative of who is the biggest player in the trans-Tasman market, announcing 1.7 million seats between New Zealand and Australia from October 2025 to March 2026.

In-flight entertainment screens on Air New Zealand retrofitted Dreamliners

O’Brien told Stuff Travel it was “game on”.

“We're really serious about continuing to be the leading player on the Tasman and this season coming up, that 1.7 million seats, really reinforces that leadership position, which is something we're really proud of and want to keep.”

Recently, Qantas announced it would have more flights between Australia and New Zealand than Air New Zealand, boosting capacity across the Tasman by up to 20% for the summer holidays between December 15, 2025 and January 26, 2026.

The additional flights provide 60,000 more seats compared to the same time last year.

But Air NZ has now responded with an additional 130,000 seats, an announcement O’Brien calls “hugely important”.

“It's our most important international market. We've always had a leadership position on the market. No one cares about the Tasman more than Air New Zealand.

“We've got a track record in service in that market more than any other airline, and we want to continue that on and connect more Kiwis and others.”

Auckland to Perth has the biggest increase with nearly 30,000 additional seats, as services rise from seven to nine per week. Auckland-Sydney will get 25,000 extra seats, while Auckland-Melbourne is up 16,000. Brisbane and Gold Coast from Auckland also increase.

Queenstown-Sydney and Christchurch-Melbourne also get boosted, as do Pacific Islands flights to Rarotonga, Nadi and Papeete.

The extra seats will come thanks to more flights and the use of bigger, widebody aircraft on key routes, offering “more options, more choice and more flexibility”, said O’Brien.

“We are very confident in the improved situation we have with our narrow bodies. With Pratt and Whitney [engines], we are definitely out the other side of that challenge. This is the early signal of what that improvement means from our ability to grow and put capacity in, and we will continue to accelerate … in the coming months.”

There was more good news on future additions to the airline’s fleet.

“Boeing have reconfirmed to us that they're on track to deliver the first two of our new Dreamliners in February and March of next year. That helps us to grow again.”

The new aircraft will be “fit for mission”, and are “built specifically in terms of their maximum take off and landing weight”.

“The configuration of the cabin is to be optimised for ultra-long-haul flying.”

The new planes will have 214 seats, comprising of eight in Business Premier Luxe, 34 in Business Premier, 52 in Premium Economy, 120 in Economy, including nine Skycouch seats and six Skynest pods.

A return of flights to London has been floated over the last few months, but O’Brien wouldn’t be drawn on any speculation.

“We're considering what any new route might look like, and what type of aircraft would be put on it.

“We know that for those longer journeys, that is where the premium cabins come into their own, because the value you get from the comfort, the ability to sleep, the ability to be fed and hydrated well, and to end up at the far end of that journey in a reasonable state is important.”