Air New Zealand B777-200ER Business Premier

Published: 02/02/2010 - Filed under: Tried & Tested » Airlines » Tried & Tested » Tried & Tested » Airlines » Air New Zealand »

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BACKGROUND Air New Zealand flies two different routes between Auckland and London Heathrow, one via Los Angeles on a B747-400 and the other via Hong Kong served by the smaller B777-200ER. The Auckland to Hong Kong service runs once daily.

CHECK-IN It takes around half an hour to drive from Auckland city centre to the airport and during my week there I never saw the roads congested. I arrived at 2045, giving me plenty of time before my 2345 flight on NZ0039. The queue for the economy check-in desks was vast, but thankfully, as this is ANZ’s hub, there was an entirely separate premium check-in zone which is behind glass doors and looks more like the entrance to an airport lounge.

THE LOUNGE ANZ’s Koru lounge is upstairs from the main departure level, and opposite the Qantas lounge. There were a number of different areas, including a long table with power sockets for laptops, a quiet “no mobile phones” zone and a TV room, which at the time was showing the women’s final of the Australian Open. Unfortunately I seem to have missed the main meal on offer at the buffet, which would have been sweet and sour pork balls and rice. There was however a lot of cheese on offer, and the bar was well stocked with local and international beers. There was also some great New Zealand wine.

The quiet zone has a small massage therapy room attached to it, which at the time was offering free massage and Chinese reflexology to passengers flying to certain destinations, including London (my final destination).

BOARDING The call to board came at about 2315, but I hung around a little to watch the tennis. As it happens Gate 5 was only a short walk from the lounge, and I was able to skip past the main queue using the priority lane. There was little hanging around once on board, and as it worked out most people had an overhead locker to themselves, so there was plenty of storage rooms.

THE SEAT There is only one Business Premier cabin onboard the B777-200ER, unlike the B747 which has three. Rows are configured 1-2-1 (A-BJ-K). To see the seatplan click here.

Every seat effectively has aisle access. Mine, 5B, faced outwards from the middle of the plane, which I did not like as much as the window seat I had on the outbound flight a week earlier (to read the review click here).

The seat itself was not as comfortable as it could have been because my electronically controlled lumbar support kept on deflating. I would have asked for another seat but I could see that there were none free. Instead I resorted to a good old-fashioned cushion for comfort.

The IFE also seemed to be very dark, almost enough to put me off watching a film. But as it was quite late in the day I slept for the best part of the flight so I really had no need of my IFE. There was also a decent selection of music and radio channels.

WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE? Not a lot in it to be fair, but as I said earlier I preferred the window seat I had on a previous flight, it felt more private and could not be overlooked from behind. The middle seats can be overlooked and I was quite conscious of people around me. There are toilets behind Row 7 which are shared with the premium economy cabin, meaning they can get quite busy. Window seats 2A and 2K would be my seats of choice as they’re as far from these shared toilets as you can get.

THE FLIGHT As it was quite late in the day I was pretty tired, and asleep almost as soon as I’d sat down. Even so the flight attendant was good enough to wake me, twice, to ask if I wanted dinner, which I did. The same flight attendant also took the trouble to walk up and down the cabin with a passenger list so he could use our names. He got mine wrong, but then it’s easily done and I hadn’t the heart to correct him.

Shortly into the flight supper was served. The starter was cured and seared tuna with papaya, bean sprout and pickled cucumber salad. Three choices of mains: Lamb navarin and cutlet, cranberry and cherry stuffed chicken thigh or golden fried snapper. I went for the snapper which came with steamed rice, garlic chilli sauce, baby pak choi, shiitake mushrooms and carrots. Dessert was gourmet lemon meringue ice cream, strawberry ice cream and a chocolate and almond wafer.

Wines: Whites – Montana Festival Block Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Wither Hills Marlborough Chardonnay 2007, Morton Estate White Label Hawke’s Bay Musetta Rose 2007. Reds – Forrest Pinot Noir 2007, Villa Maria Cellar Selection Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2007.

There was a ‘help yourself’ snacks trolley available to anyone feeling peckish between meals, with crisps and peanuts. Also on offer, by request, was a hot noodle soup or kawakawa chicken foccacia sandwich. I wish I was hungry enough to try one of these, but the main meals were more than adequate.

After the main meal I converted my seat to the flat bed and went straight to sleep. The cabin lights were gently raised after what felt like a long time, and I woke feeling very refreshed. The breakfast service began with the offer of cereals, muesli, juices, smoothies, yoghurt and fruit. For my hot breakfast I chose a three cheese omelette with veal sausage and tomato chutney, but there was also apple and cinnamon hot cakes or stir fried noodles with dim sum.

ARRIVAL We arrived in Hong Kong well ahead of schedule, at about 0530 local time. Disembarkation was very quick as premium economy and business premier were let off my one airbridge, while economy passengers exited by another further down the aircraft. Once in the main airport a member of staff directed the transiting passengers (myself included) to the departure lounges. Once through a quick security check, we were handed special transit cards before being let loose airside.

VERDICT A comfortable flat bed meant I slept like a baby, helped by excellent food and wine. It was a shame that my chair was not working properly, and was perhaps in need of a little maintenance.

PRICE A mid-week return in February starts at NZ$6,181 (£2,745).

CONTACT airnewzealand.co.nz

Andrew Gough