Air New Zealand has announced it will introduce the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the Auckland – Nadi route during the southern hemisphere summer season adding 8,000 more seats to the route than last year. The airline will be the first to utilise the modern generation airliner on flights to the Pacific Islands.
The aircraft will be introduced on the route between November 2015 and March 2016. The 787-9 will initially operate two new services per week building to five during the peak mid-December to late January period. In addition to this, there will also be an extra weekly A320 service added to the summer schedule to meet passenger demand.
“Fiji continues to be a hugely popular destination for Kiwis with the number of Kiwis travelling there growing steadily over the past three years. We’re thrilled to be able to meet growing demand for Fiji as a destination with more seats and the exceptional Dreamliner experience,” said Cam Wallace, chief sales and commercial officer, Air New Zealand.
The Boeing 787-9 services will initially operate on Saturdays and Sundays, extending to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the peak. The additional A320 service will operate on Sundays. The first flight is scheduled for November 27, 2015.
Air New Zealand took delivery of its first of ten 787-9s in July 2014 and introduced the aircraft into scheduled service between Auckland and Perth in October last year. The aircraft is now also used on flights to Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo, while between September 27, 2015 and October 15, 2015 it will also be used between Auckland and Los Angeles and from November 16, 2015 on the Auckland – Singapore route.
Alongside Air New Zealand, Fiji Airways also serves the Auckland – Nadi route using a mix of narrowbody (Boeing 737-800) and widebody (Airbus A330) aircraft. In our analysis we look at seat availability in this city pair market over the past ten years, a period that has seen annual capacity and frequencies remain at a relatively balanced level.
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