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New Zealand aviation news

New Zealand Emergency Medical Services received EMS H145 helicopters

In a ceremony at the GCH Aviation Group headquarters, Airbus has tdelivered two H145 helicopters to the New Zealand Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Airbus Australia Pacific Managing Director Andrew Mathewson said these were the first two H145 helicopters in emergency medical services (EMS) configuration in the New Zealand market. “I’m proud that Airbus’ heli...

Air Partner on standby following New Zealand earthquake

Air Partner, the global aviation services group, today reports that its Emergency Planning Division is on standby to support clients needing to move people, freight and aid in or out of New Zealand following the severe earthquake that hit the country’s South Island just after midnight on Monday (11:02 GMT on Sunday). Air Partner has responded to a crisis in the country before, chartering a B...

Skywork Helicopters of New Zealand picks Astronics enhanced vision system

Astronics Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Astronics Max-Viz, announced that New Zealand’s Skywork Helicopters Ltd. is flying the world’s first high resolution Max-Viz 1400 Enhanced Vision System (EVS) on a rotor wing aircraft. The Astronics Max-Viz provides pilots real-time display for increased visibility in adverse weather conditions, such as darkness, precipitation,...

Air New Zealand makes inaugural voyage to Vietnam

Lemongrass chicken and black pepper beef were on the menu for passengers lucky enough to grab a seat on Air New Zealand airline's inaugural flight to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The 11-hour flight touched down on Sunday morning (NZT), with dignitaries including Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Viet Dung Nguyen greeted by a kapa haka group...

Air New Zealand trials world-leading robotic technology

Air New Zealand is working with Christchurch-based robotics company Invert Robotics to trial wall climbing, camera mounted robots to carry out remote inspections on its aircraft. The technology, originally designed for use in the dairy industry, uses remote-controlled inspection equipment to detect damage inside milk tanks beaming back high resolution footage in real time. Air New Zealand Ch...

Air NZ to deploy 787-9 to Argentina from October

Air New Zealand is switching its Auckland-Buenos Aires service from the Boeing 777-200ER to the 787-9 from October 30. While the move represents an overall reduction of 10 seats per flight, from 312 for the 777 to 302 for the 787-9, there will be a change in the mix of seats across business, premium economy and economy. Air New Zealand’s Dreamliners have a larger economy cabin featurin...

New Zealand picks up training pace with T-6C fleet

Flightglobal contributor Peter Clark was given the opportunity to fly in one of the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s (RNZAF) newly-operational Beechcraft T-6C trainers, during a 42min sortie from Ohakea air base. Eleven T-6Cs are being used to deliver initial training to students, with the new capability due to deliver 15 graduate pilots and 12 qualified flying instructors annually over the...

Refused boarding over weight limit

Air New Zealand refused to let a woman board her flight to Tonga because the aircraft had reached its upper weight limit. Auckland woman Alex Catchpole-Ozpınar was supposed to board her 9.30am flight to Tonga on Monday for a five day holiday but was turned away at the Air NZ check-in counter because her aircraft had reached its weight limit. Catchpole-Ozpınar said sh...

Police board Air New Zealand flight to Shanghai after woman becomes 'hangry'

Police were called to board an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Shanghai after a passenger apparently had a meltdown over her in-flight meal. TVNZ reporter Katie Bradford said in a Twitter post that the woman "nearly caused a riot when they didn't have the meal she wanted". Air New Zealand said in a statement police met NZ289 on arrival in Shangh...

Air NZ boosting Houston to daily over summer

Air New Zealand’s three-month old Auckland-Houston service is expanding from five times a week to daily over the upcoming summer holidays. The nonstop service, which launched just before Christmas and is served with Boeing 777-200ERs, will run every day over a two-month period from December 5 2016 to February 5 2017, Air NZ said in a statement on Thursday. Air NZ chief sales and c...

Air New Zealand to have country's largest electric vehicle fleet

There may be no alternative to using carbon-based fuels to power aircraft, but Air New Zealand is switching to electric vehicles on the ground. The airline is buying 36 fully-electric cars from BMW and 12 plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi SUVs for its sales staff. It is also directly importing 28 fully-electric vans from Renault for use at airports. Air New Zealand said in a statement that i...

Airwork NZ orders 100th LTS101-850B-2 engine

New Zealand company Airwork recently ordered its 100th LTS101-850B-2 engine from Honeywell. Airwork NZ offers a Eurocopter BK117 engine upgrade program swapping out LTS101-750 engines for the higher power -850 variant, an STC which is widely seen in the Pacific Rim. New Zealand CAA approval was given in May 2010, followed by EASA approval 2012, and the upgraded aircraft is marketed as the BK117...