LONDON – New Zealand’s flag carrier airline, Air New Zealand, will be carrying out a multi-year investment into its home base.
What the investment means…
Air New Zealand will be carrying out over the next four years a major piece of investment at their home base of Auckland Airport (AKL).
The first of the major investments will be for Air New Zealand’s headquarters office to be moved from Auckland’s city center to the airport.
The move will help Air New Zealand reduce its office footprint ultimately reducing its costs by 20% over 15 years.
The design is still yet to be drawn up for their new office at AKL airport before they then move into the construction of renovating their existing building, which is expected to be completed in 2024 for the move to then be carried out.
On top of their new office space, Air New Zealand will also be opening a new 10,000 m² engineering facility, which is right to be named ‘Hangar 4’.
This will replace their existing hangars that were built back in 1960 and 1980, which have very much expired their usage with new engineering technology progressing greatly since then.
Although the new facility was originally announced back in 2019, plans had been hampered slightly by New Zealand’s COVID-19 restrictions over the past few years, the project is now back in full swing.
It is said that the new facility will be able to house one Boeing 787 Dreamliner alongside two Airbus A320s side-by-side.
Senior Comments
Air New Zealand’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, has released a statement about the new investments saying, “We’ve spent the last two years looking at how we can set ourselves up for success as we revive our airline.”
“We know we work best when we work together, and we have plenty of underutilized space at the airport campus to make that happen.”
“We’ll be creating an environment where the people who plan our future work alongside those who operate our aircraft and work with our customers every day.”
“Globally, this way of working is delivering exceptional results for customers and shareholders, and this is the right time to get ready for a move as we prepare for the global recovery in aviation.”
For the first part of the statement, as many know in the industry, Air New Zealand has greatly struggled over the past few years in terms of profitability, with removing operations to London Heathrow as well as significantly reducing other medium to long haul services.
Foran continued:
“We have more space than we need in the Auckland CBD and are already paying for a precinct at the airport that has more than enough space to meet even our most ambitious growth projections.”
“With building costs increasing and our CBD leases coming to an end, this is the time to get started on the work to bring our people together.”
“The way people work has changed, this is our opportunity to set up a world-class hybrid work environment, with cutting edge digital technology so our people have the right tools to build on our history of innovation and deliver great experiences for our customers.”
Again, with Foran’s further comments, the company is expecting a huge bounce-back within the industry which will come as very welcome news for many of New Zealand’s people.
Foran then added regarding their long-haul operations recovery, “We’re confident that our long-haul operation will return so investing now in a new hangar that will be large enough to house a 787 and two A320s side-by-side in one space makes complete sense.”
“It’s also been designed by our engineering and maintenance employees to ensure it’s suitable for them and the work they need to do.”
It is clear from these investments, Air New Zealand is readying itself for a very promising future ahead and these advancements to both their office space and a new engineering facility will aid greatly in the carrier’s favor.
