Air NZ will move HQ staff to its airport campus in 2024. Image / Supplied
Air NZ will move HQ staff to its airport campus in 2024. Image / Supplied
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran says a head office move to Auckland Airport is an ''elegant'' way of meeting twin aims - saving money and a cultural shift.
Its office staff of between 500 and 600, now at its Fanshawe St headquarters, will move to a remodelled officebuilding about 100m from the airport runway in 2024. The airline leases the building near the airline's engineering hangars from Auckland Airport. He described the deal with the airport company as ''an incredibly long lease and at very good rates.''
Moving the city office to the airport will consolidate office space, significantly reducing the airline's property footprint, and reducing costs by 20 per cent over 15 years. He described the dollar figure as ''significant''.
Remodelling the existing airport campus at Geoffrey Roberts Rd, was a multi-million dollar job and the search was on for tenants to take up the remainder of its lease at 185 Fanshawe St.
In 2018 the building was part of a portfolio sold by Goodman Property Trust (51 per cent owner) and partner Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC to funds of giant United States investor Blackstone. The previous year, Air NZ had renewed its lease for 10 more years.
He said there had been interest in taking the space.
''We're certainly talking with other folks about whether or not they want to take on the lease and they are certainly interested. It's a good location,'' said Foran.
''Culturally this is a great thing to have our operation all together. And being at the airport makes a lot of sense. There are obvious cost savings, the rents a lot better out there.''
Other airlines including Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Hawaiian Airlines and Emirates have their corporate offices at or close to main airports in their home countries.
He said Air New Zealand had been considering the move to the airport for many years. The cut to staff numbers during the pandemic - from more than 12,000 to around 8000 - had given it more flexibility and incentive to go ahead with it.
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Besides maintenance and engineering at its airport precinct it has its training and flight simulator facilities, pilot base, supply chain staff, property team and daily operations staff.
When it moved into Fanshawe St it had about 1000 staff in the building, those remaining include digital and marketing staff and executives who were already spending one or two days out at the airport.
Foran, a former head of Walmart in the United States, said he was experienced at corporate office moves and was confident most of those working at Fanshawe St would be happy to make the move, even though it was about 27km away from the airport campus.
''We've been discussing this internally now for some time so this won't be a surprise to anyone in Air New Zealand. It's another couple of years away and people are going to make choices that they see as appropriate,'' he said.
''Obviously flexible working is different today than what it was. I've done a number of these (moves) before and my experience has been that actually when you get to the day that you don't actually lose all that many people.''
Corporate staff will work closely with operational staff at Auckland Airport base. Image / Supplied.
Foran said the majority of more than 8000 staff are based in Auckland.
In August 2020 Air New Zealand sub-let about a third of its space at Fanshawe St.
Following lay-offs the airline said then it was looking for tenants for up to a third of its Fanshawe St building.
Colliers said then Air New Zealand had identified an "opportunity to optimise" its footprint at its head office and can make available 845sq m to 5000sq m of fully fitted office space.
When it was built for the airline in 2005, builders Hawkins said it comprised two inter- connected six-level buildings and brings together around 1000 Air New Zealand staff who were then located at several premises around the Auckland CBD.
Air New Zealand moved into Fanshawe St in 2006 just as growth was taking off. Photo / Alex Robertson
The ground level and auditorium include a 6m high glass wall panel to host a series of creative moving images. The auditorium is encased in a Victorian ash timber batten, which is on pivoting door hinges.
The majority of the ground floor is covered in sea grass fossil ferrous limestone, with meeting areas that are segregated loosely by thousands of curved stick screens.
New wooden hangar build back on
The airline has also announced it will begin building a new aircraft hangar after it pressed pause early in the pandemic.
The four-year investment will create what it called a world-class aviation facility for Air New Zealand employees and its aircraft as the airline rebuilds.
The new 10,000sq m engineering facility – called Hangar 4 – was first announced in 2019 and will be ''world-leading in sustainability'', with a 6-star green rating and the largest single span timber arch aircraft hangar in the Southern Hemisphere.
"We're confident that our long-haul operation will return so investing now in a new hangar that will be large enough to house a 787 and two A320s side-by-side in one space makes complete sense,'' said Foran
Existing hangars were built in the 1960s and 1980s and as the fleet has changed new buildings are necessary.
