Luxury airliner touches down in Auckland

The plush interior of the longer-range version of the Boeing 777, fitted out for its sales mission around the globe.

Boeing's $300 million flying showroom has paid its first visit to New Zealand and the aerospace giant is keen to show Air New Zealand what it says is the future of long-haul air travel.

Named the Worldliner, this new plane, the 777-200LR (for longer range) can connect almost any two cities in the world with just over 300 passengers on board.

If fitted with removable auxiliary fuel tanks it can fly 17,400km, easily connecting Auckland with New York, Buenos Aires or Cairo (winds allowing).

Boeing hopes to sell 200 of the new long-range jets over the next 20 years. The list price is US$200 million ($295 million).

The jet that came to Auckland this week, on its way to Mexico City, is one of two test aircraft flying the globe, gathering information to back up assumptions and predictions by designers and engineers.

Another aircraft, with less salubrious fittings, is testing its capabilities in extreme weather and with different weights.

With its business class seats, in-flight entertainment system and wide-open spaces, the aircraft that visited Auckland is more of a display model to impress the media and potential airline customers.

While visiting Australia, the jet was promoted as being able to fly from London to Sydney non-stop. Regular headwinds, however, mean it would be unable to make the return journey without a fuel stop.

Air NZ has already shown itself to be a fan of the Boeing 777 as it is about to take delivery of the first of eight 777-200ER (extended range) aircraft.

These do not have the LR's range but can still connect New Zealand with the West Coast of the US and most cities in Asia. Air NZ is also buying two of the new 787 Dreamliner, which will be built largely of carbon fibre composites instead of aluminium.

Air NZ spokesman Mark Street said the airline had looked at the 200LR as part of the long-haul fleet evaluation process undertaken last year. "While we have purchase rights which include the B777-200LR as part of our overall B777/B787 purchase, at this stage the B777-200ER and the B787 ideally fit our current and near-term network needs."

However, as the network developed, the "impressive ultra-long-haul aircraft may have a place in the fleet", he said.

The new model is the fifth member of the twin-engined 777 family, the first of which took to the skies in the mid-1990s. Called "hub-busters" by some, the jets have pioneered "point-to-point" travel, where smaller cities are connected by smaller jets, rather than funnelling travellers through congested hub airports.

Programme head Lars Andersen said the powerful new engines on the plane had more thrust than any others fitted to commercial jets and allowed it to climb quickly to cruising altitude, thus saving fuel.