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Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran says the airline is looking at leasing aircraft and crew from overseas to get it through the summer period off the back of heavy domestic bookings.
Domestic travel has returned to pre-covid levels, with ‘leisure’ travel bookings running ahead of the same time before Covid, Foran said.
That has put pressure on flights with Air New Zealand operating a much smaller fleet than before Covid.
“We had a look at our demand going into Christmas. Bookings remain proudly robust. Bringing [more planes] back…it’s not a five-minute job. It’s not just the issue of getting the plane out of the desert and getting it ready to fly; you’ve got pilots to train, crews to train. Then all the supplies…
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“So there’s a good chance we will end up doing a wet lease [leasing an overseas plane and crew) for a period of 12 weeks to put more operational surety into what we’ve sold over the Christmas period.”
While leisure travel is the big driver of domestic demand, Foran said business and corporate travel was also returning and was now close to getting back to pre-Covid levels.
“We continue to be excited about what we see happening domestically.”
While more planes will gradually be brought back into service, the airline is also looking at other options.
Speaking to reporters in New York where the airline has recently launched a direct service, Foran outlined a future where passengers will be able to book on-demand flights on electric airplanes operating between regional airports like Hamilton to Auckland – and it may not be that far away.
Foren said the airline was working to a timeline of two to three years for electric planes, and he would be publicly firming up details in the next few weeks.
The concept of on-demand flights, or “uberising” domestic travel, might be over a longer time frame of three to five years.
It has previously been revealed that Air New Zealand has partnered with Wisk Aero, which has been trialling self-flying all electric aircraft in New Zealand able to carry up to four people.
Wisk Aero has released a prototype of its aircraft that will “rise like a helicopter and fly like a plane”.
Foran was recently in California checking out the new four-seater aircraft – which has only just been revealed to the public.
And Wisk previously revealed to Stuff that at least one New Zealand city is amongst the first 20 on its radar, and it expects to be flying here within “five to 10 years”.
Air New Zealand has also been in talks with Kiwi billionaire Richard Chandler, whose company Eviation is also trialling electric powered aircraft in the US.
Chandler made a surprise appearance at an Air New Zealand-organised event in New York where a group of Kiwi CEOs has been hearing from US economists, think tanks and business leaders as part of a push to promote the new direct service to New York.
Chandler’s company has already started taking orders for its groundbreaking new electric planes, though they are still in the development and testing phase.
Nine seats is the maximum it can fly at this stage and Foran said that made it ideal for smaller regional runs like Hamilton to Auckland.
On demand air travel is seen as a rising trend in the industry and players like ride sharing giant Uber are acively pursuing opportunities.
Air New Zealand is also exploring options.
“So would you run a nine-seater between Hamilton and Auckland, would you uberise it? Sort of makes sense…we’ve got to get that FAA-certified and do all the other things. So maybe in three to five years time? Why not give it a go. And if it works, great, and if it doesn’t maybe try a different iteration,” Foran said.
“ I do like this concept that on the shorter runs, you do just walk in and say ‘great there’s a plane going in 20 minutes’.”
Last last year, Air NZ issued a zero-emissions aircraft “product requirements document (PRD)” which outlines specifications and requirements for new generation aircraft. The PRD says Air New Zealand aims to find long term partners in developing “novel propulsion” which encompasses emerging technology including hydrogen/battery electric, hydrogen combustion or hybrid.
The push for more sustainable air travel is a worldwide one, as consumers become increasingly conscious of the carbon emissions footprint from air travel.
Foran said the airline would have more to say about the issue in a few weeks when people could expect it to make some firm commitments.
He has previously said there were three key sustainability areas the airline was focusing on: Electric or hydrogen powered aircraft for domestic and short haul travel; sustainable aviation fuel for long haul travel; and running the business as efficiently as possible.
Tracy Watkins recently travelled to New York courtesy of Air New Zealand.
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