Air New Zealand has listened and is giving its passengers what they want, as it announced this morning that from October 30, all new economy bookings for its direct Tahiti (PPT), Perth (PER), and Honolulu (HNL) services will receive full inflight services. This includes a meal, in-flight entertainment, and a 23kg baggage allowance. Air New Zealand General Manager Short-Haul, Jeremy O’Brien commented,

'' There’s a need for a consistent NZ experience. Ensuring everyone can enjoy a meal from our delicious new menu gives an overall better onboard experience and streamlines the process for our crew and customers.”

From customer feedback, the airline has recognized the need for consistency, so the changes from the seats to suit offerings will enhance the onboard passenger experience.

Currently, 95% of passengers booked on the services to Tahiti, Perth, and Honolulu were already booking Air New Zealand's 'The Works' economy fare, which includes the full economy offering.

Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner ZK-NZL
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

The details

From October 20, Air New Zealand's seat and seat+bag fares will no longer be available to be booked on its Perth or Tahiti flights departing after October 30. Passengers traveling will now be able to pick between The Works (Economy), Premium Economy, and Business Premier. From October 30, Honolulu flights will move into its long-haul full-service offering, with passengers able to choose between Economy, Premium Economy, and Business Premier on these flights.

It's a bonus for those who booked the cheaper product offerings on the service prior to this announcement, as they will automatically be upgraded to the full economy product.

The airline currently operates direct services from Auckland to Perth, Tahiti and Honolulu multiple times a week.

Air New Zealand's 'Seats to Suit'

Air New Zealand introduced its 'Seats to Suit' product in 2010, which was said to be a 'game changer' in the airline industry. They introduced six different fare types, as below (premium economy and business premier are only available on flights operated by the airlines 787 or 777):

AirNZ seats to suit offerings
Photo: Air New Zealand

These fare offerings were applicable to all Trans Tasman, Pacific and Bali services. However, Air New Zealand has postponed the direct Bali service since the onset of the pandemic.

In effect, this allowed Air New Zealand to match low-cost carriers directly competing on its routes, on headline fares by price by cutting back the standard economy offering and getting them to pay at different levels for bags, entertainment, and food.

While a meal or drinks are not included with the airline's seat and seat+bag products, passengers are able to purchase snacks and drinks from the inflightbites menu using a credit card, debit card, or a prepaid voucher that can be purchased at the airport. With Works and WorksDeluxe, once passengers have enjoyed their meal and drink service, they are able to order complimentary additional drinks from the inflightbites menu.

Currently, there is a $50 to $80 difference in fare between the base 'seat' only option and the top 'The Works' economy package, depending on the route.

Locally Air New Zealand competes with full services airlines Emirates (EK), Qantas (QF), and Qatar (QR), and low-cost carriers Jetstar (JQ) and AirAsia (AK) on select trans-Tasman services, so remaining competitive and having various range of service offerings enable the airline to compete wisely in the market.

Sources: NZ Herald, Newshub