Domestic transcontinental flights

Normally when people think trans continental flights they think of LAX-JFK or similar in the USA, but Australia has its own transcontinental services between the three big east coast cities BNE, SYD & MEL and PER on the west coast.

Qantas have just taken delivery of their final Airbus A330-200 VH-EBV 'Kangaroo Island' which sports One World alliance titles, which they will operate on the domestic transcontinental flights.

Photo from Qantas Facebook page

Along with this delivery Qantas have announced that from May 2013 all week day flights on the MEL-PER-MEL & SYD-PER-SYD routes will be operated by A330-200 aircraft.  A move which has been in part to combat rival Virgin Australia who already operate their A330 fleet on all MEL-PER routes and next year also on all SYD-PER flights, these currently operate as a mix of A330 & B738 flights.

Qantas will also take delivery next year of the A332 fleet that is currently utilised by Jetstar, when Jetstar begin to take delivery of their new Boeing 787 fleet.

I hope that once these aircraft are received that all Brisbane-Perth flights will also go to all A332, (currently a mix of A332/B763/B738) but hopefully the change to A332 flights from SYD/MEL will mean all BNE-PER will be at least B763.

Read more about these services and the Qantas A332 fleets via Australian Business Traveler HERE or Australian Aviation HERE

Hobbits on a plane

Once again reprising their role as "Airline to middle earth" Air New Zealand have gone full tilt into "Hobbit fever" as has Wellington Airport "the middle of middle earth" and Wellington in general.

I've already shown you the Unexpected Journey inflight safety video but now its time to check out Boeing 777-319ER ZK-OKP in its hobbit decal as well as other hobbit things from Air New Zealand and Wellington International Airport.

The below photo and videos are from Air New Zealand via theflyingsocialnetwork.com , Air New Zealand's facebook page & their youtube page.

The above photo's show OKP being revealed in Auckland then her in Los Angeles and London.  Air New Zealand, the below video is a time lapse of the application of the decals to the aircraft.  Also not the black tail with white koru and new font for the Air New Zealand titles - the first time this new livery has been applied to an aircraft



Air New Zealand have also added video's of J.R.R. Tolkein's Great Grandson Royd to their line up
See their interview with Royd HERE & staged footage of him checking in for his flight to Wellington HERE

Wellington Airport have also gone all out on their hobbit promotion the below photos are from their facebook page

 Inside the terminal above & the outside airside view below

They have also decked out their luggage collection area in the hobbit theme as seen below (source Air New Zealand's facebook)

And finally ZK-OKP landing in Wellington today with Hobbit cast & VIP's on board (source Air New Zealand facebook)

Also check out Mike's blog MRC Aviation for more coverage of OKP's roll out & flashback to the 4 LOTR themed aircraft, Air New Zealand had for the launch of the LOTR trilogy.

Sunny winter getaway

Kiwi's looking to escape the harsh NZ winter will have a little longer to make the trek to the sunshine state's Sunshine Coast with the announcement that the seasonal flights from Auckland will be back for 17 weeks next year, up from 12 weeks this year.

The direct service will operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Sundays from 18 June to 13 October 2013. The 17 week season is being extended next year to include the October school holidays, following the success of the 2012 season.

Both Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia are promoting the service which operates with Air New Zealand A320s, and is being hailed as a successful part of their alliance.

Read more at The Flying Social Network, Air New Zealand's blog  HERE

Another NZ route to end

Hot on the heals of the announcement of the end of the HKG-LHR-HKG route, Air New Zealand subsidiary Eagle Air have announced the end of their CHC-WKA-CHC route from 30/01/13.

This ends a tumultuous period of service to Wanaka which began back in 2004, more recently the route has operated 6x weekly using NZ2011/17 on the CHC-WKA leg and NZ2010/14/18 on the return leg.

The Otago Daily Times has a small article HERE

Vale HKG-LHR-HKG NZ35/38

Air New Zealand have announced the end of their London - Hong Kong services NZ35/NZ38 effective 4 March 2013.

In a separate move which is part of Air New Zealand’s strategy to implement an alliance based network with a Pacific Rim focus, the airline has also formed a strategic agreement with Cathay Pacific on the Auckland – Hong Kong route.

Air New Zealand have announced that passengers booked on the HKG-LHR-HKG portion of NZ35/38 after 4/3/13 will be rebooked onto Cathay Pacific services.

Both Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific will continue their current schedule on AKL-HKG-AKL services.

Outgoing Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe has mentioned that the freed capacity will be redeployed into already announced additional North American services.

Read more from the Air New Zealand "blog" The Flying Social Network HERE

An unexpected briefing

In preparation for the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, & its world premier in Wellington, Air New Zealand the airline to middle earth, have released their next themed in flight safety video.  This one is obviously hobbit themed, and also features a cameo by Sir Peter Jackson.

Look out for it from now on, on Air New Zealand flights, and hold on for the release of Boeing 777-319ER ZK-OKP in a special hobbit livery.