AIRLINE NEWS
Emirates has completed their Lounge renovation at Auckland Airport. The Lounge has a lighter colour scheme and sports an expanded dining area; overall seating capacity increases to 220 passengers.
The Qantas Business Lounge in Auckland is closing in late April for the long-awaited renovation. There will be a bit of interim lounge shuffling in that Business Class and Qantas Platinum members will be redirected to the refreshed Emirates Lounge and Qantas Gold Members flying Premium Economy or Economy will be directed to the Strata Lounge. The new lounge will be ready around January 2026.
Last week Jetstar commenced non-stop flights between Christchurch and Cairns. JQ125 Cairns to CHC will operate Tue, Thu and Sun, while JQ136 CHC-CNS will operate Mon, Wed and Fri. This is the first flight between the two cities.
The first Air New Zealand renovated Boeing 787 Dreamliner is expected back from Singapore shortly where it has been undergoing a refit. The aircraft will feature the airline’s all new cabin configurations including the new Business Class and Premium Economy seating. They will operate the aircraft on Tasman routes initially on a ‘surprise and delight’ basis, by way of testing the product and training their staff. It will however take a couple of years to refit the entire fleet of 14 Boeing 787s.
Fiji Airways has become a full member of the One World Alliance. This provides this very successful regional airline with code share, reciprocal lounge access and frequent flyer alignment with Qantas, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and British Airways, all of which are foundation One World members. Fiji Airways (in our image) has also commenced three weekly flights between Nadi and Dallas-Fort Worth.
ITA Airways, formerly Italy’s national airline Alitalia has joined the Star Alliance network, which includes Air New Zealand. This is on the back of Star Alliance member Lufthansa’s 41% purchase of ITA Airways.
Singapore Airlines has changed its ‘seat belt’ policy. They will no longer serve hot drinks or meals when the ‘seat belts on’ sign is illuminated. This is on the tail of the various turbulence issues experienced by several airlines recently.