Air NZ to go shopping for new ultra-long range planes

Air NZ will go shopping for their next wide body planes from the end of the year as it eyes ultra long range routes into the North or South America. CE Christopher Luxon said the new aircraft would replace the airline's eight 777-200 which although refurbished were bought around the mid-2000s. "By the end of the year we'll get clear about what aircraft are out there," Luxon said. "Really our objective is to move deeper into North America and South America." Luxon said among those planes that could be in the running included stitched versions of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner the airline already flies, a larger version of the Airbus A350XWB that is already in service for other carriers, or the next generation of the 777 which is still under development and won't be available until the 2020s. Both the larger versions of the Dreamliner and the A350 are already undergoing flight tests. Luxon said his airline would continue to target the Australian market who wanted to fly to North or South America via Auckland.<br/>