An Air New Zealand Airbus A320 landing at Wellington Airport. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Tejas Lamb flies Air New Zealand flight Auckland to Wellington
The plane: The workhorse of the Air New Zealand domestic fleet, the A320. This one in particular was a 16-year-old aircraft, ZK-OJD.
Class: Economy for everyone.
Price: $250 for four people travelling.
Flight time: From take-off to
landing it was a swift 47 minutes.
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My seat: I was lucky enough to be seated in 1C, the first row of seats in the plane. The seat was spacious.
Passengers: As it was a Saturday morning, the passengers were mostly travelling to Wellington for fun. We were travelling for a friend's 21st - a weekend away from "run-by-idiots" Auckland, to quote Mike Hosking.
How full: "This service is 100 per cent full, so please stow smaller items underneath your seat so larger items can fit in the overhead bins..."
Entertainment: We were on an international-fitted plane so the seats had in-built IFE screens, though we weren't given any headphones for this quick flight.
Service: As we were travelling for a celebration, we had a rather large present to stow away. The stewards were helpful and offered to put our bags and the present away for us so we wouldn't have to leave our seats while everyone else was still boarding.
There were three attendants, two stationed at the front of the aircraft. They were very welcoming, professional and chatty for a morning flight. Thanks, Tom and Jimmy!
Food: The ubiquitous lolly, tea, coffee, water and chips or cookie.
Airport experience: Auckland waseasy to navigate, even with the never-ending renovations they seem to be doing. We were laughing when the Security X-ray person asked us if we had any "weapons of mass destruction" - cute but would he be laughing if we had made the same joke?
Auckland's Domestic Koru Lounge was being refurbished, leaving about half of the lounge closed. The staff there were friendly. Arriving in Wellington was easy, and it was a five-minute walk to the baggage claim.
Would you fly again: A 45-minute flight is much more appealing than an eight-hour drive.
