I decided to upload slightly bigger photos than 800 pixels wide because when they are put up onto the forum, they are compressed and become jagged. Hopefully if you click on the pictures you want to view in more detail, it should give you a bigger picture than what is given on this page.
The previous TR includes background information of Air New Zealand and Auckland airport but the next paragraph is copied from the other TR.
Air New Zealand is my hometown airline and a few years ago they started these cheap flights under the name of “grabaseat” – offering a handful of flights daily for a cheaper price than usual. Some of their best deals include NZ$500 for return flights from AKL-LAX and SFO which is such a bargain even if you are restricted to fly at a certain date. This year, on the 13th of October, they sold 13,000 seats each for $13 one way, including all taxes, surcharges and levies, and I was lucky enough to grab a couple of these deals and head to Queenstown and Napier but just missed out on getting an AKL-OOL return ticket for the same price.
Auckland is the home of Air New Zealand and it sees various planes ranging from Britten-Norman Islanders to the 747-400 on scheduled services.
Once again, my day began with my dad driving me to the airport, much earlier than I needed to be at the airport. I decided that because I have already shown you the new check-in procedures at Air New Zealand’s domestic airports in the previous TR, there was no need to repeat these steps on this TR and also I wouldn’t bother taking an empty suitcase to Napier as well. I believe Air New Zealand has changed the way we fly but it would probably cause problems when passengers book but never turn up and because they don’t check in, the airline doesn’t know if they are on their way or anything. Some pictures of Auckland’s domestic terminal are given in the previous TR too but here are some regarding the regional side rather than the jets. Both use the same check-in area but due to the fact that the props don’t require air bridges, the gates are situated at the other end of the building on ground floor rather than one level up.
Auckland International Terminal From The Carpark
Auckland Domestic Forecourt
Security Screening For Air NZ Jet Services, FIDS For Jets
A horrible experience I hope no one has to ever encounter! Just one word of advice if you are unfortunate enough to end up in a situation like this: never underestimate the speed of fire.
Anyways, getting back on track, these flights involved flying on both of Air New Zealand’s largest turboprops: the ATR 72-500 and also the Bombardier Dash 8-Q300; from Auckland to Napier and return respectively. Being very tired on this day, I apologise for many things that I simply forgot to do such as take photos of the seats on a single row. All 3 types of turboprops Air New Zealand have (Beech 1900D, Dash 8-Q300 and ATR 72-500) use the stands situated in this eastern end of Auckland Airport’s domestic terminal. IIRC, there is no security screening required under Civil Aviation Authority rules for planes under the size of 90 seats and hence none of the regional airports have to go to the hassle of getting these machines and AvSec officers for the time being. The regional departure hall is landside and includes both the regional baggage claim carousels and boarding counters. Pictures of the procedures at the boarding machine are also found in the previous TR. All that exists after the boarding machines is a sheltered corridor leading to the various gates on the apron. There are some shots below of the planes on the apron.
I also found this really interesting flight on the imminent departures list showing a flight which was boarding heading to Auckland.. I asked the person at the help desk what that was about and he told me it was a training flight of some sort and I don’t think it actually left the apron.
E-Ticket/Boarding Pass
Information On How To Board
Boarding Now
Boarding Machine
Barcode Being Read and accepted
Gate Pass Printed
Part Of The Domestic Apron Looking Towards The Jets
My Awaiting Aircraft[b]
[b]Air National J32 And An Air NZ 772ER
Flight Information
10 Dec 2008
Routing: Auckland - Napier
Airline: Air New Zealand (Operated by Mt Cook Airline)
Flight: NZ 5751
Scheduled Time of Departure: 1015hrs
Actual Departure: 1014hrs (pushback), 1022hrs (rotate)
Scheduled Time of Arrival: 1115hrs
Touchdown: 1110hrs
Flight time: 48 min
Aircraft: ATR 72-500
Registration: ZK-MCF
Seat: 6D
Air New Zealand’s 3 types of turboprop aircraft are run separately by 3 wholly-owned subsidiaries of Air NZ: BEH – Eagle Air, DH3 – Air Nelson, AT7 – Mt Cook Airline. It is to be my first time departing AKL on a turboprop and the first time on a Dash 8. Because they were both flown on the same day, I thought I’d try seeing if one was quieter inside the cabin than the other. The ATR 72 fleet of Air New Zealand’s is about 9 years old and consists of 11. This particular plane entered the fleet on 24-11-1999 so it has basically just turned 9. The -500 series is the newest of the lot so far and can be recognised with the 6 blade propeller. Air New Zealand makes do with 68 seats and a seat pitch of 31 inches. None of Air New Zealand’s propeller planes have TVs installed and so the safety demo is also said via the PA system rather than the recording they have on the jets.
Boarding from the rear of the aircraft like any ATR is quite fun and also quite interesting. I’ve done it many times before on my numerous trips to DUD. For just about every other flight on the ATR, I’ve flown in the front 4 rows but this time the seat availability wasn’t as good and I ended up grabbing the next closest window seat which landed me in row 6. This seat, as you will see below, is just behind the propeller.
Legroom
The plane quickly filled up with passengers to about 85-90% capacity and the engines were soon started. It was interesting to finally get a view from a departing propeller plane at AKL. As I’ve learnt the taxiing pattern of the aircraft when the wind is from the west, I could just imagine what the ATC were saying to the pilots: “Taxi to and hold short runway 23L via Bravo, Bravo two, Alpha two”. It wasn’t long until this was realised and we did actually use this path. Take off was quick and easy and we were off to Napier. As this was the first time I had departed AKL on a prop, it was interesting to see how much slower the climb was! It gave me plenty of time to have a good look over the airport and also towards the CBD and the various mountains between the airport and the city. The International airport is fairly quiet around this time of the day because the NZ heavies (772/744) have either headed to maintenance or have departed for MEL/BNE. Flights from Asia arrive around lunchtime (CX, MH, SQ, TG) and Emirates fills up the place at around 3. We soon banked left to take our path over Waikato.
Airwork’s 732 and 733
Dash 8s On The Apron
Looking Down Towards The Jet Apron
The Secondary Runway 23R/5L Also The Main Taxiway And A Korean Air 744 At The Other End
Dash 8 And 733 Landing While We Wait
Taxiing Onto The Runway
Air New Zealand Maintenance Area: 2x 744, 1x 763, 1x 772 and the 732 taxiing somewhere
Auckland Airport International Terminal And Apron
Looking Towards The City: Mt Eden/Sky Tower Center Picture, One Tree Hill Toward The Right
Climbing Above The Cloud
The Green Pastures Of Waikato
Refreshments on the AT7 commenced about 10 minutes after takeoff. On the props you receive a cup of water and later a cup (which the FA(s) fill with tea/coffee later) with a tiny biscuit, milk and sugar inside it. Water always comes first and separately as they carry these on a tray rather than a trolley. Today’s outbound flight had cups with Christchurch as the point of interest (the previous TR had one of Hamilton’s flights) and all the non-stop flights from CHC. I opted for a coffee, hoping that it would be of the same standard as that of my outbound flight to ZQN but it wasn’t to be: probably due to the fact that I had a mocha on the ground at Auckland Airport earlier that morning.
Water
Cup And Amenities, And Biscuit
Close Up Of The Cup Showing Domestic Destinations From Christchurch
The flight had a cruising Altitude of 17000 ft on the way down and I was quite surprised to see the top of Mt Taranaki in the far distance – a mountain I missed as I flew over it on my way to Queenstown. Even with my 300mm telephoto lens, it was still small; showing how far away it was. Mt Ruapehu, the tallest mountain in the North Island of New Zealand, was also just visible through the cloud. I was amazed that Lake Taupo was clear of cloud. Being a fairly uneventful but enjoyable flight, I switched my iPod on and took a few more pics. The flight was extremely calm and there weren’t any unexpected drops or any pockets of turbulence.
Mt Ruapehu And Lake Taupo Below
Mt Taranaki In The Distance
The famous Air New Zealand lollies were handed out 12 minutes before touchdown. To my surprise, the Air New Zealand lollies (one pictured below) were outnumbered by generic lollies I had encountered on my trip to ZQN. Does anyone know why this is the case? Are they phasing them out or did they discontinue the Air New Zealand lollies when they got rid of the other New Zealand favourites of Sparkles, Tangy Fruits and Snifters? It’d be sad to see the Air New Zealand lollies go.
The Much Prized Air NZ Hard Boiled Lolly
On descent into Napier, we crossed over the foreshore and out into the Hawke’s Bay before coming in to land for a flawless touchdown on runway 16.
The Coast Of Hawke’s Bay, On The East Coast Of New Zealand
Napier Airport is a lot smaller than Queenstown Airport as it only handles the propeller planes – no 733s come here, mainly due to the runway and subsequent taxiways but many other factors come into consideration here too. It seemed quite a tight fit when there were 2 planes on the tarmac with all the people meeting and greeting and others bidding farewell to some. It has a little cafe and a nice little viewing deck which is fascinatingly separated by 2 doors similar to that in a zoo to prevent animals (usually birds) from escaping the enclosure. It must be an attempt to keep the tame air conditioned air from seeping airside. They don’t have a carousel here: just a sheltered area where I believe they wheel the baggage trolleys into for everyone to claim their baggage.
Baggage Claim Area
Gate 2
The Viewing Platform
Instead of wasting my day (3 hrs or so) in the sunny Hawke’s Bay by staying at the airport like I did in ZQN (I planned to go out until I saw what the weather was like), I decided to go for a walk to get some lunch which ended up being about a 9km roundtrip. I took the stony beach route which was very pleasant up to the bridge on the way into Napier city. I got to about 3km away from the city itself where the fish and chip shop which claimed to be the best in the bay was situated. For NZ$4.30 (approx. equivalent to US$2.50), I got 2 pieces of very fresh fish (terakihi) - so hot that as I went to pick it up, it burnt my fingers - and some chips: too much for me especially because I was due to fly out in 1.5 hrs and didn’t want to risk filling myself up too much with such greasy food. It will probably remain the best value fish and chips I’ll ever get. Once lunch was over, I was off again, this time on a full stomach, back to the airport to catch the flight home. The weather was supposed to be showery but not a drop fell in my time there. As you can see from the pictures, this area of New Zealand is desperate for rain – but, selfishly, I count myself lucky I didn’t have 2 trips in a row spoiled by the weather.
Westshore Beach
The Last Place On Earth I Expected To See One Of These!
The Customhouse. By The Looks Of The Date It Survived The Great 1931 Earthquake
An Example Of The Art Deco Style Buildings Of Napier
My Lunch
The Godwit, The Bird On The Logo Of The Airline Before Air New Zealand – NAC
Due to NPE being such a small airport, they can allow planes to take off or land in any direction so flights from CHC can land from the south then depart to the south and flights from AKL can land from the north then depart to the north. Napier has 4 normal check-in counters and 2 newly installed self service check in booths – the same which should be in every domestic airport soon. From check-in, it’d be a 10 metre walk to the gate if you were in such a rush. It wasn’t long until the arriving plane was emptied and the announcement that we would be boarding shortly was heard. Boarding was exactly the same as all domestic airports have now adopted the new boarding machine which in some cases speeds up the boarding process.
Boarding Pass Printed From The Self Service Booth Behind
Dash 8 Off To Christchurch, Departing To The South
My Plane Inbound From Auckland
View From The Terminal Overlooking The Apron And Runway
Flight Information
10 Dec 2008
Routing: Napier - Auckland
Airline: Air New Zealand (Operated by Air Nelson)
Flight: NZ 8404
Scheduled Time of Departure: 1425hrs
Actual Departure: 1430hrs (pushback), 1434hrs (rotate)
Scheduled Time of Arrival: 1530hrs
Touchdown: 1525hrs
Flight time: 51 min
Aircraft: De Havilland Canada Bombardier Dash 8-Q300
Registration: ZK-NEJ
Seat: 6D
The Dash 8 fleet of Air New Zealand’s is the youngest the airline possesses with an average age of 1.8 years. The one I travelled on was the 9th to enter the fleet on 4-8-2006. The Dash 8 fleet was purchased to replace the ageing Saab 340A fleet and has subsequently increased capacity for these flights and increased the number of services with a larger fleet. Air New Zealand fits 50 seats into this aircraft at 32 inches of legroom. This was extremely noticeable on the transition between the ATR 72 and the Dash 8, in fact it seemed as though it was a larger difference than the one inch stated in the Air New Zealand website.
The seat next to me remained vacant until, to my dismay, most passengers had settled into their seats. I was really hoping to have a free seat next to me! I was very intrigued by the decal on the seat buckle of the words “Dash 8” – something which I’ve never come across before. It usually only has the word “LIFT” on it rather than advertising for the certain plane type as well.. There are no lifejackets under the seat! On the back of the tray table it says “use bottom cushion for flotation” but if any crash landing occurred on this flight, chances of it crashing on water would be less than 5%.
Legroom
Seatbelt
The runway acts as a taxiway for planes just like ZQN so it requires a taxi to the end and a 180 degree turn to line up for takeoff.
I had not put my camera away in time for the final FA check so I kept it in my bag for takeoff, intimidated by the FA on board. Apologies I didn’t get any photos of the takeoff or the gear retraction because it was very interesting watching the wheel spin as we climbed up into the sky! Something you don’t get with many other planes! It’s a shame that the pilots don’t call out “cabin crew must be seated for takeoff/landing” in the props.
Takeoff towards the north was quite fast – the first takeoff in a long time where I didn’t have my camera out taking photos. Maybe this is where a compact camera (rather than my DSLR) might come in handy! It felt a bit more powerful than the ATR 72. We climbed towards our cruising altitude of 16000ft with ease and as soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off, my camera was out again. This flight had the exact same service onboard as the ATR 72 – the water (this time of a different brand for some reason) followed by the cup with a biscuit and sugar in it which was to be filled up with tea or coffee. I asked for the cup itself and she willingly gave it to me. Air New Zealand have many designs for their cups and on this flight they happened to be handing out cups with All Blacks on them. I got one with Daniel Carter on it. I didn’t want to load myself with anymore caffeine after 2 coffees and half a bottle of coke so I just held onto the cup.
The Radiata Pine Forests To The South Of Taupo, On The Lake’s Edge Toward The Left Of The Image
The Town Of Kinloch Just Outside Taupo
Inflight Service
Mt Maunganui (The Dark Part) Centre Screen Under The Cloud
Cabin View
Some of the cloud had cleared over the Waikato region which allowed for some shots of the towns below. Our flight path took us over Lake Taupo, giving us on the starboard side a view of the town as we headed northwest. We passed over a few more rural towns before beginning our descent into AKL. The flaps were so quiet that I didn’t hear them being extended and I was sitting right by it. We dropped through the broken cloud and the city of Auckland greeted us with quite a nice day. The landing was soft and it was interesting seeing smoke from the tyres sitting just outside the window. We taxied to the same gate I departed from earlier that morning. The flight crew were extremely friendly and I got a good picture and a not so good picture of the flight deck. I disembarked and headed home after a tiring day.
It was great finally being able to experience being in a prop during takeoff from AKL after many flights on jets.
On Approach Into AKL, Rangitoto Island In The Background
Undercarriage
SB A332 About To Depart Back To Noumea
Touchdown!
Cockpit Of The Dash 8-Q300
AKL Apron
Beech 1900D ZK-EAI
Comparison Between ATR 72 And Dash 8
Both these planes have toilets in them, which, due to me not wanting to disturb my neighbours, I didn’t visit, cannot be compared by me. There wouldn’t be much to these toilets and they definitely wouldn’t be as lavish as some international first class toilet with a view.
In the Dash 8, there was this funny droning noise which lasted much longer than any similar noise on the ATR 72. Due to that, I don’t get what the ‘Q’ actually does although I know what an older Dash 8 sounds like from standing behind it from the terminal and it was noisier than the 737 taxiing to the gate! An interesting point: The ATRs use Mobil Oil and the Dash 8s use BP! They have these stickers on the engines facing in toward the fuselage saying “use this brand oil only’.
The day I flew was very calm so I didn’t get to test the stability between these 2 aircraft.
A more accurate comparison would be between the Q400 and the ATR 72 but I’ll have to make do because Air New Zealand only has Q300s and maybe looking to replace their ATR 72-500s sometime although they serve the airline quite nicely IMO.
I preferred the ATR 72 seats over the Dash 8’s even though it had one inch less legroom. It just seemed more comfortable. The ATR 72’s window is marginally bigger but it’s hard to tell unless you use something to measure it with. The NZ CAA regulations of FA:PAX ratio means that the ATR 72 (68 seats) carries 2 FAs and the Dash 8 (50 seats) carries one. It doesn’t make a difference apart from the fact that if you want coffee on board (which isn’t great anyway), you’d be waiting a bit longer on the Dash 8 because on the ATR 72, one FA has the tea and the other has the coffee. Cabin height is no real issue for me but you can judge that yourself by the photos I took. The Dash 8 window seats probably cater for taller people more than the ATR 72. Both aircraft are very pleasant and I wouldn’t have a problem going on either of them if I had a choice.
Acknowledgements
Air New Zealand once again for such awesome fares
The crew onboard both flights
You for reading my TRs!
Please join me again in over a month’s time as I upsize then supersize to a 763 and A380 on my return trip from AKL-SYD with a comprehensive tour through AKL’s international terminal and much more. Until then, have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Regards,
Nicholas (NZ107)
Take a look at my trip reports! Upcoming Flights: Aussie + NZ Late November
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1221 posts, RR: 16 Reply 1, posted (11 months 1 week 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 4367 times:
Hi Nicholas,
Another great story from your hand!
I really liked your comparison of the 2 main turbo-prop types flying around these days.
Also some great pictures included! Again you make me feel even more enthousiast about New Zealand! I wish I had the money to visit it for a couple of weeks!
Thanks for sharing, and also Merry Christmas to you!
Joost (D-ALCE)
flown on : F50,F70,CR1,CR2,CR9,E75,143,AR8,733,735,736,73G,738,753,744,319,320,321,AB6. Next flights AMS-CFU-AMS with OR
NZ107 From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 2465 posts, RR: 17 Reply 2, posted (11 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 4044 times:
Quoting DALCE (Reply 1): I really liked your comparison of the 2 main turbo-prop types flying around these days.
Also some great pictures included! Again you make me feel even more enthousiast about New Zealand! I wish I had the money to visit it for a couple of weeks!
Hi Joost,
Thanks for your comments I think I could have done a bit better on it to be honest. But since it was a couple of weeks ago and I have no other photos I don't think I can improve it. Make sure you do come down here some day! Such a pity about the cloud I experienced on all 4 flights but I guess that's what I have to live with! Hopefully it won't be too long before my next flight down the other end of the country on a fine day.
I wish I had the money to go to places where you've done TRs! That's the beauty of this whole section of the forum - people from different places of the world come together and share their experiences and give each other insights of other places/airlines/airports etc and make everyone else jealous. haha
I just realised that if you click on the photos, it opens a new window/tab with a picture barely bigger than the one posted. If you're interested in larger images, feel free to click the link below to get to the album and open the bigger version of the photos.
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1221 posts, RR: 16 Reply 3, posted (11 months 1 week 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 3938 times:
Hi Nicholas,
Quoting NZ107 (Reply 2): Make sure you do come down here some day!
One day I certainly will. Your country is really on the priority list to visit oneday!
It amazes me with the beautiful landscapes, and nature. And also, I want to try out NZ on short haul
Quoting NZ107 (Reply 2): I wish I had the money to go to places where you've done TRs! That's the beauty of this whole section of the forum - people from different places of the world come together and share their experiences and give each other insights of other places/airlines/airports etc and make everyone else jealous. haha
Indeed, and jealous we all get sometimes when reading adventures of other a.netters
Quoting NZ107 (Reply 2): If you're interested in larger images, feel free to click the link below to get to the album and open the bigger version of the photos.
Joost ( D-ALCE )
flown on : F50,F70,CR1,CR2,CR9,E75,143,AR8,733,735,736,73G,738,753,744,319,320,321,AB6. Next flights AMS-CFU-AMS with OR
TG992 From New Zealand, joined Jan 2001, 2853 posts, RR: 15 Reply 4, posted (11 months 1 week 21 hours ago) and read 3879 times:
To answer your query about the sweets - Air NZ's supplier closed their factories in New Zealand and outsourced to overseas - Air NZ felt they should support a kiwi company where possible, so have terminated the suppliers contract and switched to a company that still makes them in New Zealand.
The generic pillow-packed sweets youre experiencing are a temporary supply until the new supplier is geared up to produced the branded sweets.
That's good to know. Thanks for that!
I believe that company was Pascall from reading the wrapper... So they didn't just get rid of Tangy Fruits, Snifters and Sparkles.. Let's hope they return as exactly the same sweets!
Regards,
Nicholas
Take a look at my trip reports! Upcoming Flights: Aussie + NZ Late November
777ER From New Zealand, joined Dec 2003, 9860 posts, RR: 23 Reply 6, posted (11 months 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 3597 times:
Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter): The Last Place On Earth I Expected To See One Of These!
I've lost count of how many of those limos are here in WLG. They seem to be very popular with tourists for tours
Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter): I didn’t have my camera out taking photos. Maybe this is where a compact camera (rather than my DSLR) might come in handy!
I had the same problem with my DSLR camera. I found it to be very annoying carrying it places, so I purchased a small fujifilm with excellent zoom and its much better
Don't forget to check out my youtube movies in my profile!
NZ107 From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 2465 posts, RR: 17 Reply 7, posted (11 months 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 3549 times:
Hi Jase,
Thanks for reading!
Quoting 777ER (Reply 6): I've lost count of how many of those limos are here in WLG. They seem to be very popular with tourists for tours
But in Napier of all places!! Wellington is excusable.
Quoting 777ER (Reply 6): I purchased a small fujifilm with excellent zoom and its much better
I think I'm going to take my point and shoot to Sydney as well, mainly for the flights but yeah, sitting in row 24 or something in a 763 should make it ok.
I just found out that the ATR 72 I was in was subject to an emergency landing at WLG - the engine I was sitting next to was shut down at 500ft.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 3154 posts, RR: 71 Reply 8, posted (11 months 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 3484 times:
Hi Nicholas,
you posted another great report with many amazing pictures from a beautiful country, I really enjoyed reading!
Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter): Auckland International Terminal From The Carpark
Is it allowed to hang around there for spotting or would the cops send me off? Is there a dedicated spotting area?
Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter): Air New Zealand makes do with 68 seats and a seat pitch of 31 inches.
The interior looks nice, much better than the Dash 8 cabin.
Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter): Please join me again in over a month’s time as I upsize then supersize to a 763 and A380 on my return trip from AKL-SYD with a comprehensive tour through AKL’s international terminal and much more.
Sounds interesting, I'm looking forward to read the report. I had also considered to fly the EK A380 on the AKL-SYD later this year. However, I've just decided to try it on the LHR-DXB run in March.
777ER From New Zealand, joined Dec 2003, 9860 posts, RR: 23 Reply 9, posted (11 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 3470 times:
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 8): Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter):
Auckland International Terminal From The Carpark
Is it allowed to hang around there for spotting or would the cops send me off? Is there a dedicated spotting area?
Our police force and Aviation Secuirty Services are more relaxed about aircraft spotting here. Many kiwi a.netters love to spot in the NZ staff engineers carpark at AKL which is only a skip away from the taxiway where B744s taxi past. Out of all the times there, I've never been questioned by the police or airport secuirty. I havn't heard about any problems at the new parking spot where the pics looking over the terminals were taken from, so I suspect that location is also just the same. I guess its the luxary that us New Zealanders enjoy
Don't forget to check out my youtube movies in my profile!
NZ107 From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 2465 posts, RR: 17 Reply 10, posted (11 months 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 3309 times:
Hi PH,
Thanks for your comments!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 8): Is it allowed to hang around there for spotting or would the cops send me off? Is there a dedicated spotting area?
What 777ER said is correct. They are less strict. AvSec don't control the carpark but the security guards employed by the carpark company (through Auckland Airport Ltd) and take their golf cart around occasionally and make sure you're not doing anything suspicious. But they won't mind if you stay away from the cars. I'm usually up there with my scanner and camera and a few other spotters can be found here. But yes it's just a carpark, only that it has a view of the runway. There is a dedicated carpark at the end of the runway - I took a pic of it in the 1st TR. Another exists in the international terminal. This one overlooks half of the international pier but you won't be able to see the A380 from there if you tried. The Air NZ Maintenance carpark by the B3 taxiway is also quite good if there aren't any other spotters around.. But it is private property. If you're leaning against the fence or if you try to climb it, then you'll get caught! But I'm sure you aren't that desperate to get close to the planes
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 8): Sounds interesting, I'm looking forward to read the report. I had also considered to fly the EK A380 on the AKL-SYD later this year. However, I've just decided to try it on the LHR-DXB run in March.
There's a good selection for aircraft on the AKL-SYD route for later this year: 320, 342, 343, 380/77L (alternative days), 763, 772. Others from AKL to the East Coast of Australia can include 332, 345, 744 and 77W.
Regards,
Nicholas
Take a look at my trip reports! Upcoming Flights: Aussie + NZ Late November
NZ107 From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 2465 posts, RR: 17 Reply 12, posted (11 months 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 3175 times:
Hi Mark,
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 11): Another enjoyable read, with some nice pictures through out, thanks.
Certainly nice that ANZ have both D83 & AT7 operations, gives entusiasts to het a different model now and again.
Look forward to the next TR.
Thanks for your comments again! It's unknown how long both types will remain in the fleet as NZ have been searching for a AT7 replacement, recently canned due to the economic crisis.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 8): The interior looks nice, much better than the Dash 8 cabin.
Whoops, forgot about commenting on this! Yes, the AT7 seats look much better than than the Dash 8. Both in leather, I felt as though the AT7 was more comfortable and padded.
Regards,
Nicholas
Take a look at my trip reports! Upcoming Flights: Aussie + NZ Late November
Ronerone From Jordan, joined Aug 2004, 856 posts, RR: 23 Reply 13, posted (11 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 3085 times:
Hey Nicholas!
I had no idea you posted this TR until a few days ago! ... what a great surprise.
Another excellent report from you and a great insight on the domestic side of Air New Zealand.
Speaking of which, I spotted an ANZ 744 at HKG's skydeck two days ago!
I am still amazed by ths check-in area! I even loved the little touches they had on the boarding card reader like 'scan here' etc. So convenient, especially for elderly people.
Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter): you don’t actually have to check in. Using the “boarding pass” printed off at home, you can walk straight up to the gate and board if you don’t have any luggage to check in.
While EY has implemented online check-in, the sad part is that if you have no luggage to check, immigration at AUH will not acccept the home-printed boarding pass.
Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter): The Last Place On Earth I Expected To See One Of These!
Haha ... i have its smaller baby sister they are amazing!
The approach pictures at the end were fantastic!
Thaks for sharing and hope to see more from you soon.
Regards,
Roni
A Stop Away From One-Stop, Is Non-Stop : Airbus A340-500
NZ107 From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 2465 posts, RR: 17 Reply 14, posted (11 months 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 3009 times:
Quoting Ronerone (Reply 13): I had no idea you posted this TR until a few days ago! ... what a great surprise.
Hi Roni,
Good to know you found it! And glad you enjoyed this one too!
Quoting Ronerone (Reply 13): Another excellent report from you and a great insight on the domestic side of Air New Zealand
Now I have completed domestic jet and prop services, I'm moving on to bigger and better things Short haul international should be interesting and I hope that I won't bore everyone with pictures of the wing and water and cloud.. Then someday I'll get onto a long haul NZ flight - I've never been on an NZ long haul flight.
Quoting Ronerone (Reply 13): I am still amazed by ths check-in area! I even loved the little touches they had on the boarding card reader like 'scan here' etc. So convenient, especially for elderly people.
It's great although not many people know about them and they also don't know how to use it: hence they just hand their ticket or boarding pass to the gate attendant standing next to the machine. So far from what I've seen, I'm pretty much the only person doing it myself! And you see that the gate agents assume you don't know how to use it and they've got their hand ready to snatch the piece of paper off you to scan!
Quoting Ronerone (Reply 13): While EY has implemented online check-in, the sad part is that if you have no luggage to check, immigration at AUH will not acccept the home-printed boarding pass.
Yes, I was wondering what would happen if they were to introduce this on short haul international flights. It is a possibility.. But the FF members from silver upwards get that RFID tag. I'd assume that they would have to check in normally because you shouldn't be able to walk through immigration with a microchip!
Quoting Ronerone (Reply 13): Haha ... i have its smaller baby sister they are amazing!
You mean the Hummer golf cart that runs off batteries?
Great! I'll endeavour to add more photos on approach to Sydney!
Thanks again!
Regards,
Nicholas
Take a look at my trip reports! Upcoming Flights: Aussie + NZ Late November
TG992 From New Zealand, joined Jan 2001, 2853 posts, RR: 15 Reply 15, posted (10 months 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 2385 times:
Quoting NZ107 (Thread starter): I believe Air New Zealand has changed the way we fly but it would probably cause problems when passengers book but never turn up and because they don’t check in
This isn't an issue, if you check in bags you are at the airport so they look for you. If you have not checked bags at a set minute mark prior to departure they just off load you without even looking for you if your not on the plane.
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Short haul international should be interesting and I hope that I won't bore everyone with pictures of the wing and water and cloud.. Then someday I'll get onto a long haul NZ flight - I've never been on an NZ long haul flight.
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