New Zealand Aviation NEWS: Domestic Airbus island-hopping its way to NZ

Air New Zealand's new all-black A320 plane for domestic routes is about to set off on its three-day delivery flight to New Zealand, island-hopping across the Pacific to arrive in Auckland early next week.

In a route similar to earlier days when international aircraft did not have long-range fuel tanks, it is stopping over in Gander, Canada, then Denver, Los Angeles, Hawaii, and Samoa on its way to Auckland.

At Los Angeles, on Sunday morning (local time), it will be showcased to aviation enthusiasts at LAX airport, while the flight crew sleep.

The aircraft - painted black with a silver fern to mark the airline's sponsorship of the All Blacks - was recently flown from the Airbus manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France, to Hamburg, Germany, for a fit-out of the cabin interior. The ZK-OAB registration is the only Air NZ A320 to be painted black.

Air New Zealand has 14 of the 171-seat aircraft on order, and this first one will be brought onto domestic routes from early February. Another three will be delivered this year and the remaining 10 progressively through until 2016, coinciding with the expiry of leases for Boeing 737-300.

The airline has said that the larger aircraft will let it boost domestic jet capacity by nearly 30 percent. The current 737 fleet is configured with 133 seats.

A test flight before an earlier A320 delivery, from Perpignan -- 200km east of Toulouse - to Germany killed five New Zealanders and the two German pilots in November 2008, after a combination of pilot error and faulty sensors caused it to crash into the Mediterranean.

1. Free coffee, celebrity aircraft at LAX Observation Deck

irplane aficionados, you’re clear to land. At the LAX Observation Deck, that is.

On Sunday, LAX is holding its first “Sunday Morning Coffee” for aviation enthusiasts and the general public, from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. atop the Observation Deck at the airport’s landmark Theme Building. Admission, coffee, cookies – all free. But not the parking, which will be at the usual rates.

Scanners will allow visitors to listen in on transmissions between pilots and air controllers, and free telescopes will allow close-up peeks at three aircraft that will be arriving that morning -- a sort of a celebrity lineup of arriving flights:

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-- Air New Zealand "All Blacks" A320: Estimated arrival time 9:25 a.m.; departure time 11 a.m.

-- Qantas A380: ETA 9:45 a.m. (for evening departure)

-- Air New Zealand B777-300ER: ETA 10 a.m. for (evening departure)

Of particular note is Air New Zealand’s A320, which is making a brief stop at LAX (its only stop worldwide) on its delivery flight from France to New Zealand. The aircraft’s sleek black exterior, which honors New Zealand's national rugby team, includes a silver fern motif and a koru design on its tail. Unless you will be flying domestically in New Zealand, you won’t have a chance to see this aircraft anyplace else, according to LAX officials.

NEHA JAIN

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