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 This is the second leg of my journey from Auckland to London via Hong Kong, which is served by a 304-seat B777-200ER. ANZ’s Business Premier flat-bed seat, on licence from Virgin Atlantic, makes up its enhanced business class offering. The Hong Kong to London service runs five times per week (daily except for Mondays and Wednesdays).

CHECK-IN As I was a transit passenger arriving from Auckland, I was already airside and in the departure lounge at Hong Kong airport. I had arrived on flight NZ0039 at 0530 local time, the same flight that would take me on to London Heathrow leaving at 0815.

THE LOUNGE As Air New Zealand is a member of the Star Alliance I had access to both the United Airlines and Thai Airways lounges. However, as I’d arrived at HKG at 0530, nothing was open, including the lounges, but this did not stop us entering the United lounge (unmanned at the time). It didn’t take long for staff to cotton on and the buffet was quickly stocked and boarding card details checked. The waiting list for the showers was quite long so I did not bother, although I was told by a fellow passenger that they were nice facilities. Food on offer at the United lounge included scrambled eggs, noodles, stir fry and finger sandwiches, as well as the usual refreshments. There was an excellent selection of newspapers and magazines, including the Asia-Pacific edition of Business Traveller. There was also a small business centre with telephones, laptop power and ethernet connections, fax machines and a photocopier.

The Thai lounge opened at 0600 and I was welcomed in. Immediately apparent was the large number of PC workstations with internet. With prawn dumplings and steamed vegetable buns, the buffet was slightly bigger and more varied than the one in the United lounge. There was also a smoking room, two Nintendo Wiis and in a screened-off area two massage chairs, one of which I tried out.

BOARDING I left the Thai lounge an hour before my flight so that I had a little time to look around the shops, before heading to Gate 35. The United and Thai lounges are located on an upper level near to Gate 60, so the walk down to 35 took me past most of the more exciting and exotic shops. I got to the gate at around 0750 and boarding had still not begun, so I made note of where the priority lane was and continued looking around. Ten minutes later I saw that boarding had started but I was able to pretty much walk straight through as the priority lane was empty.

THE SEAT My seat on this flight was 5B, one of the middle row seats facing diagonally outwards towards the aisle. The one Business Premier cabin on this B777-200ER is configured 1-2-1 (A-BJ-K). To see the seatplan click here.

As I said in my review of the first leg of this AKL-HKG-LHR flight, I much preferred the window seat in this cabin. Seats B can J can be overlooked from behind, and the windows seats feel more private. To read the previous review click here.

This was the same plane and the same seat as the AKL-HKG leg, during which I endured a faulty lumbar support and dodgy IFE screen which was far too dark. However, while the lumbar support was still on the blink (did not stay inflated), the IFE screen appeared to have been fixed or perhaps reset when the plane was prepared for the HKG-LHR leg.

WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE? I like a window seat, and if you don’t have one you wont be able to see a lot of what’s going on outside. The window seats are also nice because when in flat bed mode you can look up and out of them, which is very pleasant at night. As it was I had one of the middle seats in the 1-2-1 row, and had to settle for brief glimpses of the world outside. Row 7 has a set of toilets right behind it, which are busy as they’re shared with the premium economy cabin. I would go for a seat in Row 2. There is one toilet located near to 2A for business passengers only, but it was rarely used and separated off by a curtain.

THE FLIGHT We took off a little late at around 0830 but I hardly noticed the delay. By this time the day was in full swing so I didn’t feel tired, and didn’t feel like sleeping. Instead I asked the ANZ in-flight concierge to bring me a laptop adaptor for the in-seat power so I could catch up on a little work. I found the table to be a little too high for my laptop, so I had to use it on my lap.

Less than half an hour into the flight brunch was served, which started with smoothies, juice, tea/coffee and cereals or muesli. There was also a choice of croissants, toast, brioche or carrot and raisin muffins. For the hot brunch I chose shanghai white noodles with vegetables, black fungus and seafood which was very tasty. Hot bacon rolls were also on the menu as a bonus option.

I got quite a bit of work done while half listening to various comedy TV programmes, of which there were many to choose from (although mostly American and Kiwi). I had a look through the music selection and found a lot of new releases from current artists, including a few unexpected UK bands.

I was just starting to get peckish again about half way through the flight and was about to order a hot noodle soup (available on request) when a trolley came round with light refreshments. These included sandwiches (ham and cheese, salmon and cream cheese and roast beef) and scones with jam and clotted cream. The tea was well brewed but tepid. I like my tea scalding hot but it’s understandable why it wouldn’t be, especially with the turbulence we’d had.

ARRIVAL We landed at Heathrow just before 1400 local time, almost half an hour late. This was due in part to the airport being congested which meant we had to circle for about 15 minutes, so no fault of Air New Zealand’s. Getting off the plane was pretty painless, the cabin crew even had my coat ready and waiting for me at the exit. My arrival was let down slightly by the long distance walk from the airbridge to immigration, and then the half hour I had to wait for my suitcase, despite it being marked priority. Again, probably more a fault of the baggage handlers at Heathrow, it seemed to take a long time for the bags to appear, and when they did they came sporadically.

VERDICT A great flight with excellent food and service, let down slightly by Heathrow, a typically busy airport. I’m told Heathrow is the only airport in the world where airlines factor circling times into their scheduling.

PRICE A mid-week return in February, London to Hong Kong, starts at £4,765 online.

CONTACT airnewzealand.co.uk

Andrew Gough