Air New Zealand is making an aircraft purchase of another kind, buying its first electric plane, and securing the right to purchase almost two dozen more, as the aviation sector grapples with how to decarbonise travel and reduce fossil fuel emissions.

But Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran, who said the airline had placed an order for one ALIA aircraft from electric aerospace company BETA Technologies, said he was not “betting the farm” on the new plane, which would initially only carry cargo.