Air New Zealand Dreamliner jets off to Singapore for world-first nose-to-tail makeover

Air New Zealand has kicked off a major refresh of its Boeing 787-9 fleet, with the first of 14 aircraft touching down in Singapore on Sunday to be retrofitted with new cabin interior.

The aircraft, with the registration code ZK-NZH, will spend some time at ST Engineering, the airline̢۪s heavy maintenance partner, where it will have its existing interior stripped out and all-new products installed, including revamped seats in Economy and Premium Economy, and the redesigned Business Premier cabin, including the new Business Premier Luxe product.

Air New Zealand̢۪s General Manager of Strategy, Networks and Fleet, Baden Smith says the arrival of the aircraft in Singapore marked a key milestone for the much-anticipated project.

“In 2014, Air New Zealand was the launch customer for the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. A decade on, it feels fitting that we’re the first airline in the world to retrofit these aircraft nose-to-tail with a new interior.

“This retrofit programme will see all the interiors removed, including the seats, inflight entertainment system, carpet, curtains, and lavatory wallpaper, before it’s all replaced with new product.

Over the next two years, all 14 of the airline̢۪s 787-9 aircraft will be retrofitted one at a time on a rolling schedule.

“We’re retrofitting them one at a time to ensure we have enough aircraft to fly our schedule, and we aren’t disrupting customers’ travel plans.

Mr Tan Eng Shu, EVP and Head of Aerospace MRO, ST Engineering, says, “We are excited to welcome the first of the 14 Boeing 787-9 aircraft to our Singapore facilities for the much-anticipated major refresh of Air New Zealand’s Dreamliner fleet.

Being a long-standing MRO partner to Air New Zealand, we are able to support their Dreamliner fleet̢۪s lifecycle requirements, from maintenance work to now what would be the world̢۪s first full cabin retrofit on a Boeing 787-9.

What is a retrofit?

A retrofit means we are taking an existing aircraft and replacing the product inside it.

Think of it like you would when renovating a house; removing the carpet, curtains, furniture, wallpaper, and replacing everything inside.

The scope of the retrofit includes:

New seats in every cabin, including the new Business Premier Luxe seats in the Business Premier cabinNew carpet throughout the aircraftNew curtains between cabins and galleysNew wallpaper, hands-free waste disposal, and amenity holders in the lavatoriesNew inflight entertainment screens and systemSky Pantry installed in the Economy cabinThe aircraft LOPA (Layout of Passenger Accommodation) on all 14 aircraft will be reconfigured to have 272 seats; featuring 4 Business Premier Luxe seats, 22 Business Premier seats, 33 Premium Economy seats, and 213 Economy seats, including 13 Economy Skycouch.

Currently, the airline̢۪s 787-9 aircraft have two different LOPA or configurations; nine aircraft with 302 seats, and five aircraft with 275 seats.