A report in NZ’s The Press says that Air New Zealand’s launch of a new lime-green aircraft has been overshadowed by news of a six-month delay in delivery of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner.
Air New Zealand deputy chief executive Norm Thompson unveiled the newly branded Boeing 737 at Christchurch International Airport last night, with the plane, featuring depictions of tropical hibiscus flowers and palm trees, painted to promote Air New Zealand Holidays.
But the launch was overshadowed by an announcement from Boeing that delivery of its 787 Dreamliner will be delayed six months, with the delay because of “continued challenges completing assembly” of the planes, Boeing said.
Deliveries of the Dreamliner are now expected to begin in late November or December 2008 – months after the original target of May 2008.
Air NZ has ordered eight of the next generation Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets and four Boeing 777-300ER long-range aircraft to replace the existing Boeing 747-400 fleet from 2010.
Those aircraft are worth $US2.2b ($NZ2.9b) at list prices and are slated to open new markets for Air NZ, including India, South Africa and South America.
The airline was coy last night about the potential impact of the delay.
A spokeswoman said the airline “remained confident” Boeing would deliver the aircraft. “But we’ll be meeting with them in the near future to discuss any potential impact this may have on our programme,” she said.
Last week, Air New Zealand shareholders voted to buy an additional $4.5 billion worth of Boeing aircraft, the purchase including six Boeing B789s and four Boeing B773ERs already bought by the airline, the first of which are due for delivery in late-2010.
Report by The Mole from The Press.
