Air New Zealand sends its Dreamliner to Singapore for comprehensive retrofitting

Air New Zealand began the major refresh of its Boeing 787-9 fleet with the arrival of the first of 14 aircraft in Singapore on Sunday, 13 October.

The Dreamliner with the registration code ZK-NZH is slated to be retrofitted with new cabin interiors. It will spend some time at ST Engineering, the airline’s heavy maintenance partner.

During the process, it will have its existing interior stripped out and all-new products installed, including revamped seats in Economy and Premium Economy, and the redesigned Business Premier cabin, including the new Business Premier Luxe product.

A necessary milestone 

Baden Smith, Air New Zealand’s general manager of strategy, networks, and fleet, says the arrival of the aircraft in Singapore marked a key milestone for the much-anticipated project.

Smith said: “In 2014, Air New Zealand was the launch customer for the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. A decade on, it feels fitting that we’re the first airline in the world to retrofit these aircraft nose-to-tail with a new interior.

“This retrofit programme will see all the interiors removed, including the seats, inflight entertainment system, carpet, curtains, and lavatory wallpaper, before it’s all replaced with new product.

“The aircraft will then come back to New Zealand where our team will spend a few weeks working through various checks and training before it officially enters the flying schedule in the next year.”

One at at time

Over the next two years, all 14 of the airline’s 787-9 aircraft will be retrofitted one at a time on a rolling schedule.

Smith explained: “Once the first aircraft has been retrofitted and certified, the remaining aircraft will head to Singapore one by one. We’re retrofitting them one at a time to ensure we have enough aircraft to fly our schedule, and we aren’t disrupting customers’ travel plans. Rolling out this retrofit programme before we get our new aircraft also puts us in a good place to continue delivering an exceptional flying experience for our customers.”

ST Engineering’s executive vice-president and head of aerospace MRO Tan Eng Shu added: “Being a long-standing MRO partner to Air New Zealand, we are able to support their Dreamliner fleet’s lifecycle requirements, from maintenance work to what would be the world’s first full cabin retrofit on a Boeing 787-9. We appreciate the opportunity and look forward to enhancing our partnership and being part of the new Dreamliner experience with Air New Zealand.”