Air New Zealand only yesterday unveiled their new cabin configurations on their new 777-300ER’s. From my point of view this looks like the best cabin I have ever seen (especially economy), and it will certainly differentiate the airline in terms of service provided. This means that the airline can attract customers with this better service; but I ask, are there any customers to attract?
It’s interesting to look at the current route map for ANZ, obviously their hub is Auckland and most of their long-haul routes (i.e. the routes that will have these new cabins) are mainly to Far East Asia and West Coast North America. Arguably the most profitable routes are Europe/UK – USA and USA- East Asia. There are no direct routes from USA- East Asia and there is only ONE direct route from UK- USA. The Auckland hub is not in the most convenient location, and they can’t rely on increased tourist travel alone, so how can ANZ make the best use of its new aircraft, and make it a commercial success.
I think ANZ are planning an expansion, they are about to introduce quite a few new aircraft (5 777′s EIS 2010, and 8 787′s EIS 2013), but with their current routes they may have surplus capacity. In particular I think they will introduce more UK-USA routes to tap into that massive market. However UK-USA routes are served extensively by the “Big daddy” in the STAR alliance partnership United Airlines, would ANZ now compete with them?
With such little difference between airlines in almost every aspect, in flight experience is the most differentiating factor and ANZ will have the upper hand in attracting passengers. It will be interesting to watch ANZ over the next year as the flights with the upgraded cabins are due to begin Dec 2010. So between now and then: will they unveil any new routes, how will they manage the STAR alliance relationships and how long before other airlines also introduce new cabins?
Either way I think ANZ’s new cabin is good because it will raise the cabin standards collectively across the airline industry, at least in long haul, which is good for travellers (like me!).
