Soaring across the ditch to Sydney via Europe

By CHRIS DANIELS aviation writer

Alert Air New Zealand travellers flying from Auckland to Sydney at the end of the month, may notice that things seem a bit roomier, a bit more European perhaps.

They will be among the first to travel on the most modern plane in the Air NZ fleet, the newly delivered Airbus A320.

Airline chief executive Ralph Norris took delivery of the plane this week at a ceremony at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.

The arrival of the A320 - the first of a fleet of 15, is a shiny symbol of a return to profitability for an airline that was on the brink of bankruptcy just two years ago.

It is also the first time Air NZ has chosen planes from Airbus, the bitter rival of Boeing, maker of the 737 and 767 aircraft that the new A320 is replacing.

Air NZ is spending about $800 million on the new planes, which have a 15 per cent better operating efficiency than the older aircraft.

This is a crucial element of the airline's new "Tasman Express" low-fare service, which begins on October 29.

Air NZ operations and technical senior vice-president Craig Sinclair said passengers should notice a difference in the new planes, but should bear in mind that the new planes were not huge - only slightly bigger than the Boeing 737s flying the main trunk (Auckland-Wellington-Christchurch).

They have a single aisle and 146 seats - eight in business class, the rest economy.

"The Airbus has a wider cabin. Therefore we are really pleased and quite excited about the customer comfort benefits that will come with this new aircraft type," said Mr Sinclair.

He said passengers had requested low, everyday fares, frequent flights and comfort, in that order.

Comfort came ahead of in-flight entertainment, food and drinks, loyalty programmes and lounges.

"With the A320, we know that we've been able to package up those three priorities in the offering."

Air NZ is keeping quiet about some features of the new planes, including inflight entertainment choices. It will unveil these details this month.

Sinclair said the planes were definitely more spacious than the Boeing 737s that New Zealand passengers were so familiar with.

"If you've been on a 737, then step on to an A320, it is a noticeably roomier cabin - it is wider and taller. So it just feels more spacious. It's a fantastic aircraft for the Tasman."

* The airline's first Airbus A320 will make a celebratory swoop over Auckland tomorrow on its way to touching down for the first time on New Zealand soil.

The aircraft, arriving after a five-stop, three-day delivery flight, will have notched up 22,700km.

It will make landfall over Long Bay at 11.42am and then sweep inland towards Whenuapai before turning near Herald Island and - at only 1000ft and 390km/h - flying up the Waitemata Harbour to cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge at 11.46am. The flightpath takes the aircraft past North Head and around Kohimarama, turns into the Tamaki River estuary past Pakuranga and Panmure and crosses into the Manukau Harbour.