Look Inside the Awesome New Air New Zealand B787-9 Cabin

Last month Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 787-9 aircraft landed in Auckland following a successful delivery flight from Seattle.  While the plane itself (and the unique black livery) is beautiful, I know our community is probably most interested as to what’s inside. The Air NZ 787-9 cabin features four distinct seating selections:

Business Premier:
The Business Premier cabin will feature Air New Zealand’s signature chalk colored luxurious leather armchairs which convert into lie-flat beds with memory foam mattress, cosy duvet, and two full size pillows.

Premium Economy:
In the Premium Economy cabin the airline worked with US seat designer Zodiac on a customized seat best described as Business-lite – the leather seat will have a 41” pitch, a 5” wide armrest and a leg rest and extendable foot support which will allow passengers to stretch out and relax.

Economy Skycouch:
The Economy cabin will feature 14 rows of Air New Zealand’s unique and highly popular Kiwi designed Skycouch seats – these three seats convert into a sofa-like flat surface for both rest and relaxation.

Economy:
The 787-9 Zodiac Economy seat features a slim-line seat back to enhance the feeling of space, sculpted upholstering, and a more flexible headrest.

Aircraft Specs:

• The Boeing 787-9 is a stretched version of the 787-8 – six metres longer at 63m. Wingspan is 60m, height 17m and fuselage cross-section of 5.74m . At 206 feet in length, the 787-9 is 20 feet longer than Boeing’s first version, the -8. 
• The 787-9 has a maximum take-off weight of 252,651kg, and a total cargo volume of 153m3
• 787-9s have a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 with a range of 15,372km
• Boeing boasts a 20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency compared with earlier airplanes of similar size
• Passengers will have an enhanced on board experience, with large windows, large stow bins, modern LED lighting, higher humidity, a lower cabin altitude, cleaner air and a smoother ride
• Extended operations (ETOPS) has been confirmed at 330 minutes for the 787-9 subject to operator approval
• Rolls-Royce has delivered Trent 1000 engines to power the 787-9 – providing 74,000lb thrust. These engines will power the Air New Zealand 787-9 fleet
• These Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines are up to 1% more fuel efficient than Trent 1000s currently in service on the 787-8

Air New Zealand will be the first airline to fly the new plane, which is scheduled to enter service Oct. 15 on a flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to Perth, Australia. The 787-9 will be used on Air New Zealand’s flights to Shanghai and Tokyo as well. The airline will start to replace its Boeing 767-300 planes with 787-9s, completing the switch by 2016. The company has ordered 10 787-9s and should receive them all by late 2017.