Cathay Pacific is set to start operating flights on the Auckland to Hong Kong route for Air New Zealand, as the Southern Cross carrier struggles with issues with its Dreamliner fleet. This unique situation actually benefits both airlines, as Cathay finds itself with extra capacity and Air New Zealand without an aircraft.

What are the details?

Talk about a switch-a-roo! You book a flight on Air New Zealand only to have your flight become a Cathay Pacific journey. Essentially, all flights on the Hong Kong to Auckland route operated by Air New Zealand will be operated by Cathay Pacific instead, starting from January 6th.

The reason is that Air New Zealand's Boeing 787-9 fleet is having Rolls Royce engine problems (seen around the world with that same engine type), particularly with the high-pressure turbine blades.

“Rolls-Royce does not have any replacement engines available while maintenance work is undertaken and has advised Air New Zealand there’s [a] significant wait for repair services,” the airline mentioned to Business Traveller.

Why is this good for Cathay Pacific?

For Cathay Pacific, they have found themselves with excess capacity, since their passenger numbers are down. This is primarily due to the protests in Hong Kong, but additionally, a downturn in market forces as other players (notably Chinese) compete for their through traffic.

So when their buddy Air New Zealand called up regarding their issue, they were more than happy to add these flights to their roster. Air New Zealand seems very thankful that they were so easily able to swoop in and save them at the last minute:

"This aircraft capacity will help fill the gaps in our schedule to get people to their destinations in the coming weeks and it's been beneficial to have our alliance partner Cathay Pacific step in and assist us at this busy time." Air New Zealand senior manager customer care and communications Doug Grant mentioned to the NZ Herald.

Passengers that are booked on the Air New Zealand service have been automatically booked to the new service.

What aircraft will Cathay Pacific be providing?

Cathay Pacific will be deploying one of their new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft from January 6th to January 19th, 2020, before switching out to a Boeing 777-300ER on the same route from February 1 until March 28, 2020. Now that last finish date is likely just a place holder, as Cathay expects traffic to hopefully pick up, and likewise, Air New Zealand to have their 787s fully repaired.

This will be a different experience for business passengers, which on the Air New Zealand 787-9 have their cabin configured in a 1-1-1 layout, whilst on the Cathay Pacific flight, the seats are in a 1-2-1 layout. This comes at a cost of around 5 inches of legroom.

Overall, this is a very unique way of dealing with the Trent 1000 engine problems with the 787, and having too much capacity as an airline. We can only hope that it's not the last time two airlines like this work together.

What do you think about this news? Are you affected by it? Let us know in the comments.