Air New Zealand Debuts New Inflight Menu Items

Air New Zealand has introduced a brand new menu that will be served in business class on long-haul flights. This new menu highlights local contemporary cuisine that aims to introduce unique New Zealand flavors to the world, according to the airline.

The new dishes will be featured as ‘A Taste of Aotearoa,’ a reference to the indigenous name for New Zealand, on premium cabin menus departing the country.

Some of these dishes include:

• Confit potato with onion crème fraîche whip and chives
• Mānuka smoked rye sourdough
• Smoked kahawai rillette with celery, caper, parsley salsa and citrus
• Crayfish bisque with chive crème fraîche and sourdough croutons
• Slow-cooked wild Fiordland Venison with pancetta, parmesan polenta and balsamic
  roasted red onions
• Seared New Zealand snapper with escabeche vegetables, smoked mussels, white
  beans and fresh dill
• Ambrosia ice cream

The new menu showcasing the country’s cultural identity comes at a time when the airline is seeking to refresh its image.

New Business Class

Later this year, passengers will see Air New Zealand’s brand new business class called Business Premier on Boeing 787 aircraft. The new seats will replace the 20-year-old existing herringbone seats. The airline is also installing four larger seats at the front of the business class cabin.

Air New Zealand is calling these seats Business Premier Luxe suites, continuing the business plus trend we’re seeing more airlines introduce. A seat with more space in the existing business class cabin for a slightly higher price. Passengers in these Business Premier Luxe seats will also be able to sit across from each other for meals, a feature often found in first class cabins.

Operational Challenges

These new seats will be retrofitted onto the existing Boeing 787 fleet since new Dreamliner aircraft deliveries have been delayed. The airline was expected to receive two new 787 aircraft sometime in late 2023 but the aircraft have been delayed. The carrier now expects these aircraft to arrive halfway through 2025. The delivery dates for the remaining six aircraft are uncertain.

Air New Zealand is also facing issues with the Pratt & Whitney engines on its narrowbody fleet similar to many other airlines. The carrier expects that the additional engine maintenance required by Pratt & Whitney will ground up to five of the airline’s newest A320 family aircraft at a time across the next year and a half.

These operational challenges have led Air New Zealand to wet and dry lease several aircraft to keep passengers flying.

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Hemal Gosai

Hemal took his first flight at four years old and has been an avgeek since then. When he isn't working as an analyst he's frequently found outside watching planes fly overhead or flying in them. His favorite plane is the 747-8i which Lufthansa thankfully flies to EWR allowing for some great spotting. He firmly believes that the best way to fly between JFK and BOS is via DFW and is always willing to go for that extra elite qualifying mile. Hemal's opinions are his own and do not reflect those of his employer.

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