Grant Bradley flies aboard Air NZ's flight NZ671 from Auckland to Dunedin
The plane: An AirbusA320. It was a 3 year, 9-month old plane. Air New Zealand has 30 of these A320s, a reliable workhorse. Its fleet will be refreshed from November with the first of 13 of the A320/A321NEOs
(new engine option) planes which will be used on international routes. It will also get another seven of the larger A321s forits domestic routes.
The seat: 31F, a comfy slimline leather seat — I had paid $5 extra to be seated by the window. Well and truly in the trenches and I lost the lateral lottery.
Two other burly blokes occupied the other two seats in the row so not a lot of space, but legroom was okay.
Price: On a Monday morning in early winter you're paying $190for a seat and a checked-in bag booked a month out.Grabaseat deals are much better.
How full: Thiswas the firstflight ofthe day toDunners on a Monday morning and itwas full.
Flight time: One hour and 50 minutes forthe 1057km journey. It was a bit of a bumpy slog attimeswith crosswinds sliding offthe Southern Alps.
Food and drink: Limited to water,tea, coffee, a cookie or some chips, but served with a smile.
Entertainment: The bold/uncomfortable Antarctic video which also serves as a safety briefing played and there was the reliable Kia Ora magazine,which had an article on Dunedin. Otherwise make your own fun.Not really elbow room to take out your laptop for work and there are no power or USB sources.
Service: An easy confidence and competence among the crew, and strict adherence to the required visual checks of seatbeltswhen they were meant to be fastened — reassuring.
Toilets: I was a bit too penned in to sample one of six toilets aboard for the 168 passengers, however on my return journey a pit stop revealed nothing untoward.
Airport experience: At Auckland Airport, queues were stretching well beyond the security area during early morning commuting peak so I got a good look at an electric car promotion that was taking up valuable dwell space while being devotedly polished by cleaners. The airport says the food court area — where the queue was headed — is in for a makeover, as is Jetstar's end ofthe 52-year-old terminal as part of stop-gap measures before a newdomestic jetfacility is built early next decade. Bring it on. Meanwhile, Dunedin Airport was an oasis of calm and the slick Air New Zealand operation there had my bag on the belt in a jiffy.
The bottomline: The good news is Air New Zealand is flying to Dunners more often from this month — five more return flights a week — so more options and hopefully better prices on a flightthatis a good duration to get settled with a book or have a chat with your seat mate. The right-hand side is best for views of the Alpswhich, on a clear day, makes this a great air journey.