Covid-19's estimated $574m blow to value of Air New Zealand's fleet

Air New Zealand’s planes are estimated to be worth $574m less than what they were before the coronavirus pandemic, aviation analysts say. Forsyth Barr analysts Andy Bowley and Scott Anderson recently analysed the book value decline of Air NZ’s planes based on their understanding of its fleet mix and estimated pre-Covid-19 value. In their most recent research note Bowley and Anderson said on average Air NZ’s planes are estimated to be worth 11% less than before the crisis, using estimates by international aviation analytics company Cirium. Prior to the pandemic the fleet was estimated to be worth about $5.3b, it said. Due to coronavirus-related border restrictions and a massive fall in passenger demand, airlines around the world have been grounding and retiring aircraft and putting large numbers into storage. Air NZ’s 777 fleets have gradually been sent to overseas desert storage and it is unclear if they will return to these shores. The grounding of its Boeing 777-200ER fleet alone resulted in a $338m aircraft impairment charge, the airline said in August.<br/>