Air N.Z. hopes to fly 747s to London

Press, 30 May 1981, Page 1

Air N.Z. hopes to fly 747s to London

By

GARRY ARTHUR,

1, who

was a guest of Air New Zealand on the inaugural flight.

Air New Zealand’s long-standing ambition to show its distinctive Koru tail symbol in London came a step closer yesterday with the arrival of its first Boeing 747 jumbo in New Zealand

The first of five 747 s that will replace the airline’s DClOs arrived at Auckland Airport.

"We look forward to extending our services in this wonderful aircraft." said Mr Murray Hunter, an Air New Zealand director, when the Boeing Airplane Company officially handed over the $6O million aircraft at a ceremony in Seattle. He did not name the hoped-for new destinations in his speech, but made it clear afterwards that London was Air New Zealand's target. After all. said Mr Hunter, London was the place most New Zealanders headed for when they went overseas. The Minister of Transport (Mr McLachlan), who signed for the 747 and then flew home in it. said during the flight that he hoped the airline would be able to fly to London.

“I have been talking to the Americans and ■ the Canadians,” said Mr McLachlan, “and there is a definite drift towards us. It is important for us to be equipped to handle it.” He said he was talking about both aircraft and routes. Fuel efficiency will be vital if Air New Zealand does

spread its wings to London. That is one of the advantages promised for the 747. The one that arrived yesterday, ZK-NKV, exceeded all expectations in this respect.

“We hadn’t had a chance to assess its long-range performance .until now, and we have been most impressed,” said Captain Barney Wyatt during the flight. “It is doing better than planned by a factor of 2 per cent.” He said the fuel saving, for which the Rolls-Royce engines specified by the airline had to take some of the credit, was 3000 kg more than planning had indicated — “and that’s a significant saving." •. •

The fourth and .fifth aircraft in the new fleet: will be equipped with even more fuel-efficient engines, and that type will. be available for “retrofit” into the first three. They are expected to save another 5 per cent on fuel consumption. Captain Wyatt described the 747 as very stable and "nice to handle.” He said the

crew were happy with the DCIO-style cockpit instrumentation which Air New Zealand had specified to make it easier for aircrew to convert from DClOs to 7475. Similar instrumentation was provided for Thai International’s 747 s for the same reason.

Captain Wyatt said he expected the arrival of the 747 to give Air New Zealand staff morale a big boost after the Mount Erebus crash disaster and its repercussions, and the recently reported $45 million loss for the year. “We need a bit of a lift,” he said. Air New Zealand's management may be relieved to hear the pilots praise the Boeing 747, because if the pilots had had their w r ay the airline would have ordered the proposed “stretched” version of the DCIO instead. It was because of Air New Zealand’s failure to order them that McDonnell Douglas decided not to go ahead with the bigger DCIO. A New Zealand order would have made production viable. In spite .of 100-knot head' winds for the last leg of the 12,800 km delivery flight yesterday. Captain Wyatt made sure that the new 747 arrived in time to do a proud de-

monstration pass over the centre of Auckland before touching down very smoothly just before 10 a.m. “The 747’s a ripper,” said one of the aircrew over the public address system. Now it will go into the hangars for certain modifications, and it will then be used for more flight training until June 11 when it makes itsfirst scheduled flight with paying passengers, from Auckland to Sydney.

Christchurch will see ZKNKV on June 15, when it will fly down from Auckland before going on to Sydney.

It looks fine in its smart Air New Zealand livery of teal, white and blue, but those who get a chance to see ■ inside may be a little disappointed with the colour scheme, in tourist class, of the .only New Zealand-made components — the seat upholstery and carpets. The grass-green, turquoise, blue and orange, used ,in tiny checks or solid colour on some seats, and in a vaguely Maori pattern .on others, clash badly at first sight. One of Boeing’s associated companies produced what is said to have been a very harmonious original design for Air New Zealand, after its designer had made visits to New Zealand to brief herself, but the airline’s own design department stepped in and produced the final result.