Feb 2025 launch for Air New Zealand’s new 787 business class

Air New Zealand’s long-awaited new business class is expected to take wing from February 2025, with Vancouver earmarked as the first destination for the upgraded Boeing 787s. 

Airline CEO Greg Foran confirmed the timeline on a visit to Singapore, where 14 Dreamliners are being given a tip-to-tail refit through to the end of 2026.

Foran told FlightGlobal the first pair of retrofitted 787s will likely be seen on the Auckland-Vancouver route, along with a short hop to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands; more destinations will be added as each 787 rolls out of the maintenance hangar.

Air New Zealand's fresh take on business class has been delayed until early 2025.

“Our retrofit aircraft could be on any long-haul and short-haul route (anywhere we fly the 787 currently),” an Air New Zealand spokesperson told Executive Traveller earlier this year.

“The new aircraft will be more efficient for our ultra-long haul routes like Chicago and New York. However, until they arrive, there is a possibility our retrofit aircraft may also service these routes.”

The Kiwi carrier is ripping out the current 20-year old Business Premier ‘sleeper shells’, with narrow confines and a steep rake that sees many passengers facing one another like commuters on a bus.

Time's up, and not before time, for Air New Zealand's current angled business class pods.

In their place wil be new Business Premier seats with a more conventional layout that shifts the cabin from being open space to your own space. 

Air New Zealand's new Business Premier will arrive in October this year.

Business class seats located on either side of the 787 will be angled slightly inwards, but still close enough to the window to enjoy the view, with small sliding panels – although not full doors – for an extra bit of privacy.

Air New Zealand's 2024 Business Premier seats include a 24" screen with Bluetooth audio streaming.

Creature comforts include a storage cabinet and vanity mirror, a spacious side shelf, wireless device charging and a generous 24-inch video screen with Bluetooth audio streaming to your own cordless headphones or earbuds.

Topping it off, the first row of each business class cabin will contain four larger Business Premier Luxe suites: AirNZ’s take on the ‘business plus’ trend offering more space, comfort and amenity to those willing to spend a little more on their business class airfare.

More space to stretch out: Air New Zealand's 2024 Business Premier Luxe suites.

Business Premier Luxe suites can be closed off by two sliding partitions, while a companion seat allows a fellow business class flyer to join you to share a meal, a glass of wine or a game of cards.

Fly with a friend in Air New Zealand's 2024 Business Premier Luxe suites.

Apart from ‘soft product’ enhancements such as a Merino wool throw, Air New Zealand tells Executive Traveller there won’t be any elevation in food and drink, with Business Premier Luxe passengers enjoying the same’Aotearoa on a Plate’ dining concept, which showcases fresh locally-sourced ingredients.

The airline says while it considered Luxe suite options such as “a personal wardrobe or a mini-bar, the strong feedback we got was ‘just give us extra space’.”

Just how much passengers will have to pay for that additional space remains to be seen.

In addition to these made-over 787s, a fleet of factory-fresh Dreamliners will arrive “towards the end of the 2025 calendar year,” Foran noted in late August.

The new 787s – designed specifically for ultra-long range flights and originally due in September 2024 – will sport 42 Business Premier seats across two cabins, with the first row of each two cabins containing four Business Premier Luxe suites (for a total of eight suites).

Air New Zealand's 'premium-heavy' Boeing 787 layout for the new Dreamliners, now due in late 2025.

They’ll also debut six innovative Skynest bunk beds, which economy passengers can book as a full-length lie-flat bed for four hours at a time.

In comparison, the retrofitted 787s will have a smaller business class cabin of just 22 seats (including four Luxe suites) and come without the Skynest cribs.