Black Magic & its little buddy

Posted by travel memo on 17 January 2012 | 0 Comments

Tags: Boeing 777-300ER, Air New Zealand, Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan, Paine Field, CEO Rob Fyfe

Air New Zealand’s newest Boeing 777-300ER and the last of five in its latest 777 order, arrived in Auckland last week after a 14-hour flight direct from Paine Field in Seattle. Air New Zealand Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan was at the controls and on board was Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe and a small group of Air NZ technical staff.

Clad in the distinctive World Champion All Blacks rugby sponsorship livery, the plane’s extremely complex paint job required 14 expert painters at Boeing working in shifts 24 hours a day for more than a week to get the job done.

The new triple-seven is expected to go into service on 23JAN with a round trip flight from Auckland to Brisbane. The aircraft is pictured here with a newly painted Air New Zealand Beech 1900D, the latest aircraft in the airline’s 103-strong fleet to get an all-black makeover. By midyear Air New Zealand will have six planes featuring the all black livery including two Airbus A320s and three Beech 1900D turbo-props.