Is Air New Zealand Business Class still premier? We review the current offering
The service is great and the food tasty, but this premier cabin is vastly inferior to other offerings in the same class. The good news is, it’s all about to change.
The service is great and the food tasty, but this premier cabin experience is vastly inferior to other offerings in the same class.
The seat
There are 27 seats in the business class cabin, arranged in nine rows in a 1-1-1 configuration, with each angled at about 45 degrees. This means that on the right-hand side of the plane, passengers in the window seats face their fellow travellers in the middle row (there’s no gazing out the window). Passengers on the left-hand side have more privacy, facing the back of the middle seats. If travelling in a pair, you have a decision to make: either sit side by side, where communication is possible only if you peer over the divider between the seats, or sit opposite one another, where all interactions can be witnessed by others. The seats are 56cm wide, have a padded footrest and convert to a lie-flat bed almost 202cm long, with memory foam mattress, duvet and extra pillow provided. There’s a small storage nook on the side but it’s awkward to reach. You can recline when in the seated position, plus there is a button that appears to increase lumbar support but doesn’t do anything when I press it.
Service
Air New Zealand crew are unfailingly polite and cheerful. Passengers might struggle to make their own bed – it’s a bit of a process – but crew are quick to offer to get you comfortable and to pack it all up towards the end of the flight. There are hot towels at the start of each leg, plus juice, Laurent-Perrier champagne and water. About 3 ½ hours into the flight, everyone is bedded down and the lights are dimmed.
On the menu
Dinner service begins about an hour after takeoff, starting with a light amuse bouche of smoked salmon with miso aioli. A selection of breads comes with butter and an optional mini bottle of Hawkes Bay olive oil. My starter of tomato, red lentil and black mustard soup is nicely spiced; the other choice is prosciutto and fennel salad. I skip the slow-cooked beef and tabbouleh in favour of linguine stirred through with olive tapenade and topped with tomato sugo and a generous helping of lump crab. Kiwi wines include a Jules Taylor pinot noir, Villa Maria syrah and a Vavasour sauvignon blanc. Dessert is super-sweet praline ice cream with caramel sauce or blueberry bread-and-butter pudding. Breakfast is served about three hours from Auckland. I have a bowl of fresh fruit and some overnight oats. My croissant is rock hard and disintegrates on touch. Breakfast is served again on the Auckland-Sydney leg. I choose a hot dish this time – herb-and-spinach omelette with a grey sausage I can’t bring myself to try. The omelette is good though, filled with plenty of spinach.
Entertainment
An 11-inch touchscreen TV swings out on an arm from a side panel; good noise-cancelling headphones are supplied. There’s a reasonable selection of new releases, such as Conclave, Gladiator II and the Kate Winslet biopic about World War II journalist Lee Miller. As the mother of a Lady Gaga obsessive, I watch the pop star’s outing with Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie a Deux, and later catch up on some hilarious pre-US election skits from SNL’s 50th anniversary series. Who knew Ariana Grande was funny?
Tech
Seats are kitted out with a universal power point and a USB-A plug. The latter is pretty useless when it comes to charging devices; use the power point instead. Free wi-fi is offered and although it’s simple to connect, it drops out frequently and requires repeated log-ins.
On the ground
Check-in at Vancouver is seamless and fast. Air NZ passengers can make use of the Air Canada lounge, which is spacious but has a limited array of food on offer. My transit in Auckland also goes smoothly and I make use of Air NZ’s lounge to do some work (they make a great latte). It’s virtually empty when I arrive but by the time I leave guests are struggling to find a seat.
In the bag
Business premier passengers can check in three bags of 23kg each and take two carry-on pieces of 7kg each.
Make your points
Air NZ operates its Airpoints loyalty program and is a member of the Star Alliance network, which includes ANA, Air Canada and Singapore Airlines.
In the know
By the end of 2026, Air New Zealand will have retrofitted all 14 of its 787-9 aircraft with flash new business seating. The airline’s new 787-9 Dreamliners, which start rolling out in 2026, will also feature the new cabin, as well as the innovative Skynest sleep pods for economy class passengers.
The bottom line
A one-way business premier flight from Vancouver to Sydney is about $5476, based on airline website search two months from publication.
The verdict
Air New Zealand’s new business cabin can’t come soon enough. The current seating arrangement has been in the market for about 20 years, and although it’s fairly comfortable for sleeping, it is a vastly inferior offering compared with other airlines in the same class. Combine the new cabin with the airline’s excellent service and this should be a highly coveted flying experience much more deserving of the “premier” tag.
Penny Hunter was a guest of Air New Zealand.
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