The first of Air New Zealand’s ‘desert planes’ has arrived back in the country – marking a significant milestone in the airline’s post-Covid recovery.
In 2020, the airline sent four of its largest planes – the 777-300ER – to a storage facility in Victorville, California, in the Mojave Desert. It was part of a wider grounding of its 777 fleet.
The first of those planes, with the registration ZK-OKP, arrived back in Auckland at 4:45am on Tuesday, 23 August.
The jet will now undergo six to eight weeks of maintenance before flying passengers again in September.
READ MORE:
* Air New Zealand to retire all Boeing 777s – its largest jet
* Inside the boneyard: First footage of Air New Zealand’s grounded planes
* What packed plane ‘boneyards’ mean for the future of air travel
The 777s are being brought back sooner than expected due to demand surging more than anticipated.
Before being flown to Auckland, the aircraft underwent a “good wash” to get rid of the desert dust and grime.
Air New Zealand/Supplied
The first of Air New Zealand’s 777-300ERs sent to the desert due to Covid-19 has returned.
Earlier in August, Air New Zealand’s chief operating officer Alex Marren explained what happened after its clean.
“Our engineering teams then remove the protective shrouds and materials on the wheels, sensors and wings and undertake a thorough servicing and maintenance programme to get these aircraft serviceable and ready to fly again.
“From servicing the wheels on the landing gear to checking upholstery and the inflight entertainment system within the cabin, a lot of work goes into these aircraft to make sure they are ready to welcome customers back on board.”
The airline has had a busy few months as demand increased, and sickness forced cancellations. In July, the airline relaunched 14 routes, returning to about 60% of pre-pandemic international capacity.
The airline also kept three 777-300s in Auckland – two of which have already returned to service.
One of the planes was recently involved in a mid-air scare when oxygen masks suddenly dropped from overhead and a voice over a loudspeaker declared an emergency.
Air New Zealand/Supplied
The aircraft spent almost two years grounded in Victorville, California.
The event turned out to be a false alarm, with the masks automatically releasing after the plane descended to avoid turbulence.
The 777-300ER is the airline’s largest aircraft, with a capacity of 342 passengers.
The planes are often used on North American routes and occasionally across the Tasman.
The three remaining 777-300s in Victorville will be returned to New Zealand to rejoin the fleet over the next year. The airline has seven of the jets in total.
Air New Zealand retired all of its smaller 777-200s during the pandemic, however, is now considering “wet leasing” a widebody jet to help with the busy summer season.
Wet leasing is where Air New Zealand would hire a plane and foreign crew to run the service on its behalf.
Discussion about this post