Flight check: Auckland to Cairns on Air NZ

An Air New Zealand A320. Photo / Ben Fraser

Kurt Bayer flies NZ775 from NZ to Australia.

The plane? One of Air New Zealand's A320s. They've got 23 of these things.

Class? There's only the one class - economy. But, as is the way of such things these days, you pay for different food and entertainment packages.

Price? $341 one way.

On time? Yes.

My seat? Aisle, at the end of three. Left leg gets extra leg room into the aisle.

Fellow passengers? Predominantly an older crowd. Noticeably few children.

How full? Near capacity, though one lucky chancer is sprawled across three seats behind me.

Entertainment? Free access to TV shows/games, but movies cost $10 each.

The service? Swift and smiley.

Food and drink? Looked and smelt delicious, but unfortunately my ticket didn't extend to food. I substituted it with Moa Pale Ale, $8. The airline's recent deal with Lion means you'll only get beers from that range from now on. An Emmerson's would be nice. A lack of grapefruit juice irked one American traveller with an apparent lycopene deficiency.

The toilets? Clean and adequate.

Luggage: My bag was third on to the luggage conveyor belt. Result!

The airport experience? Auckland Airport looked tired - required a makeover of Cairns' proportions.

Would I fly this again? Sure would. It's a short hop to paradise.